The pitching matchup in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers game at American Family Field was like something out of a storybook.
On one side was the crafty, grizzled, 37-year-old veteran pitching what may be his last season on his way to the Hall of Fame.
On the other was the baby-faced, 23-year-old rookie phenom making just his fifth major league start, with a Hall of Fame-worthy arm but a long, long way to go before be could even think about getting there.
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Then the veteran, the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, had to go out of his way to show the rookie, Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, some gratuitous disrespect.
Before his first start since becoming only the 20th pitcher in major league history to reach the 3,000 strikeout mark, Kershaw was asked his thoughts on facing the young sensation whose fastball reaches 102.4 mph and who had already thrown 11 of the 13 fastest pitches in MLB this year.
“I don’t even know who I’m pitching against. Is that the guy who twisted his ankle on the mound?” Kershaw said the day before the game. “The ‘Twisted-His-Ankle’ guy. I know he throws hard. I saw a couple highlights. He throws hard. But so does everybody. Except me.”
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It was true that in his major league debut June 12, the 6-foot-7-inch rookie from Blue Springs, Missouri, was pulled from the game in the sixth inning despite having a no-hitter in the works, when he stumbled after throwing a pitch and appeared to turn his ankle. The injury turned out to be nothing but leg cramps.
But on Tuesday, Misiorowski stayed upright and forced Kershaw to eat his words, dominating the Dodgers over six innings, striking out 12 with just one walk and four hits. The Brewers won the game 3-1.
The only blemish on Misiorowski’s scoreline was a game-opening home run by Shohei Ohtani, his 31st, on an 0-2 pitch — an 88.2 mph curveball after “Miz,” as he is known, fired the game’s first pitch past Ohtani at 100.3 mph.
Of Misiorowski’s 91 pitches thrown on Tuesday, 20 reached 100 mph or higher.
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Kershaw, making the 478th start of his 18-season big league career (including postseason), also pitched a dominant six innings, though he didn’t quite match his youthful opponent. Kershaw allowed two runs on two hits with three strikeouts. He walked one.
After the game, Kershaw revised his comments on Misiorowski.
“I know him now, huh? Super impressive. That was unbelievable,” Kershaw said, as quoted by Los Angeles Times Dodgers beat writer Jack Harris. “I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”
In the top of the third, when Misiorowski faced Ohtani a second time, he started the 31-year-old, three-time MVP off by blowing a 100.6 mph fastball by him for a swing-and-miss. Seven pitches later, Misiorowski finished Ohtani off with an 89.3 mph curve for swinging strike three.
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