Jacob Misiorowski, the Milwaukee Brewers' highly-rated pitching prospect, delivered a performance for the ages on Friday night, leading the Nashville Sounds to a commanding shutout victory over the Norfolk Tides at First Horizon Park. The right-hander enjoyed a career-best outing, pitching an incredible 6.2 scoreless innings while racking up an impressive 11 strikeouts.
Misiorowski, the Brewers' number four prospect, was simply unplayable for the Norfolk batters early on. He started the game in blistering fashion, striking out the first six hitters he faced. His fastball was electric, consistently hitting triple digits on the radar gun, reaching 100+ MPH a remarkable 12 times in the opening two innings alone.
The 22-year-old maintained his dominance, retiring 13 consecutive Tides batters to begin the contest. The first sign of life for the Norfolk offence came in the form of a soft fly ball to centre field that agonizingly evaded the outstretched glove of a diving Jared Oliva. However, Misiorowski quickly regained control, retiring the next five batters to cruise through six innings, facing just one batter over the minimum.
Norfolk finally managed their second hit off the dominant right-hander with a one-out single in the top of the seventh. A subsequent two-out walk – his only blemish on an otherwise stellar night – brought Misiorowski's night to a close, with Easton McGee taking over on the mound. McGee ensured the shutout remained intact, inducing a ground ball to strand the two runners.
While Misiorowski stole the pitching headlines, the Nashville offence did just enough to support their dominant starter. They broke the deadlock in the second inning when Raynel Delgado hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Ernesto Martinez Jr. who had earlier walked and advanced on a series of walks and wild pitches from Norfolk starter Chayce McDermott.
Nashville added another run in the fifth, with Jimmy Herron laying down a sacrifice bunt to bring home Freddy Zamora, who had reached base via a walk and advanced to third on an infield single from Adam Hall. Oliver Dunn extended the lead in the sixth, leading off with a single and then scoring on an RBI single from Anthony Seigler.
The Sounds made it three consecutive innings with a run in the seventh in somewhat bizarre fashion. Hall walked and then stole second base. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch and remarkably scored on the same play, courtesy of a throwing error by the Norfolk catcher after the ball ricocheted kindly off the backstop.
Hall proved influential offensively, finishing the night 1-for-2 with a hit and a run scored. In total, Nashville managed just five hits – all singles – but capitalized on six walks, three wild pitches, and a passed ball to secure their comfortable 4-0 victory.
The night undoubtedly belonged to Jacob Misiorowski, whose career-defining performance on the mound showcased his immense potential and left the Norfolk Tides batters searching for answers. The Nashville faithful will be eagerly anticipating his next outing after witnessing such a dominant display of pitching prowess.
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