Another Game 1 start in the postseason for Jacob Misiorowski.
And more frustration.
Yes, the Milwaukee Brewers' ace did limit the Los Angeles Dodgers to a single run in the teams' National League Championship Series matchup at American Family Field on Sunday night, Oct. 11.
But Misiorowski lasted only 4 ⅓ innings in doing so, his start ultimately done in by a taxing 35-pitch second inning in which he fell behind, 1-0, and never quite seemed able to hit his stride after that.
But good news for the right-hander in the end: The bullpen once again had Misiorowski's back, and the Brewers pulled out a 2-1 victory.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE: Brewers 2, Dodgers 1
Misiorowski faced the minimum in the first inning, topping out at an even 104 mph on the radar gun on his fifth pitch, and erased a one-out single by Freddie Freeman by inducing a Will Smith double-play grounder.
The trouble began with a leadoff free pass issued to Shohei Ohtani in the second, with Teoscar Hernández following by singling.
Max Muncy struck out, then Andy Pages pushed a single to right field to drive in Ohtani and take some of the steam out of the sellout crowd of 42,617 before Misiorowski generated another double-play grounder to limit the damage to the lone run.
A leadoff single by Mookie Betts in the third went nowhere as Misiorowski sandwiched strikeouts around a flyout to center, and the fourth went much the same way with Hernández's leadoff knock being nullified by strikeouts sandwiched around a Pages flyout.
Betts drew a one-out walk in the fifth after Brice Turang's homer tied things up the previous half-inning and it was at that point manager Pat Murphy pulled the plug on Misiorowski with Freeman due up and left-hander DL Hall ready in the bullpen.
Hall delivered, too, getting Freeman to hit into a 4-6-3 double play with Milwaukee's offense in line to grab the lead in the bottom of the frame.
Misiorowski allowed five hits and three walks in all with five strikeouts over 94 pitches – a line very similar to the four-inning, four-hit, two-run, one-walk, six-strikeout outing he turned in against the San Diego Padres over 88 pitches in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
In that game, the Padres employed a patient approach while fouling off a multitude of pitches in the process, making Misiorowski work especially hard before ultimately forcing him out of a 2-2 game.
Big moment for the youngsters
Luis Lara, making his second start in the postseason and first since Game 1 of the NLDS, teamed up with fellow rookie Cooper Pratt to give the Brewers their first lead of the game in the fifth.
After Garrett Mitchell drew a leadoff walk, Pratt dropped down a picture-perfect sacrifice bunt to advance Mitchell to second and bring Lara to the plate.
Lara, who struck out against Tarik Skubal on four pitches in his first at-bat in the second, jumped all over a first-pitch changeup this time and lined it into center to score Mitchell and make it a 2-1 game.
He became the fourth Brewers rookie to record a postseason run batted in, joining Jackson Chourio (two), Caleb Durbin (one) and Sal Frelick (one).
Pratt also had a big hands defensively for Milwaukee, partnering with Turang on inning-ending twin killings in the first, second and fifth innings.
Christian Yelich not in the lineup
At first glance, it was at least mildly surprising to see Andrew Vaughn in the starting lineup at designated hitter ahead of Christian Yelich – especially considering Yelich hit .357 with a .900 OPS while Vaughn logged only two at-bats in the NLDS.
But with the left-handed Skubal on the mound and the right-handed-hitting Vaughn a better matchup on paper, Murphy rolled with it with the knowledge he could utilize Yelich off the bench in a key pinch-hitting role later in the game if needed.
"It's about our team and what's best for our team today," Murphy explained before the game. "It might not be the whole game, but it's what's best for our team today. You kind of look at matchups and you look at history and you look at how the guy pitches a guy potentially and what it could bring.
"And this kid that's playing instead of Yelich in the first part of the game, he's pretty good. And he's had a pretty goodhistory against the guy pitching. That's what led to it.
"Then there's a guy named Jake Bauers, whose toe is broken, and he can't really get to the outfield. He was playing some outfield, like 40-some starts in the outfield. We can't do that right now. So, that's the weight of itall."
Vaughn wound up doubling down the left-field line in the second inning for the Brewers' first hit and then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the fourth.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Despite struggles by Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers prevail in Game 1