The Clubhouse DJ: Turang Homers Off Skubal as Brewers Edge Dodgers 2-1
By Nate Mercer ·
Brice Turang got a 2-0 sinker from Tarik Skubal to open the fourth Sunday night and hit it 384 feet to left-center, into the home bullpen at American Family Field. It tied National League Championship Series Game 1 at 1. An inning later Luis Lara punched a ground ball up the middle to score Garrett Mitchell, and the Brewers' bullpen made 2-1 hold up against the Dodgers.
A year ago Los Angeles swept Milwaukee in this same round after winning Game 1 on the road. This time the Brewers took the opener at home, in front of 42,617, on a clear 71-degree night that finished in 2 hours and 55 minutes. First pitch was 7:16 p.m. Central. The final out came at 10:12, when Mookie Betts flew to Garrett Mitchell in center with the tying run on base.
Jacob Misiorowski started it throwing heat. His first pitch to Betts was 102.3 mph, and he peaked at 104 to Freddie Freeman early, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Freeman singled. Will Smith grounded into a double play, Cooper Pratt to Turang to Jake Bauers, and Misiorowski walked off like it was June.
The second inning was October. Shohei Ohtani walked on four pitches. Teoscar Hernández singled to right. Max Muncy struck out swinging. Andy Pages punched an RBI ground single to right, and Ohtani scored for a 1-0 Dodgers lead. Kyle Tucker walked to load the bases with one out. Misiorowski got Enrique Hernández to bounce into an inning-ending double play, Pratt to Turang to Bauers again. Thirty-five pitches in the frame, and the damage was one run.
Pat Murphy, talking before the game, had already framed the version of Misiorowski he wanted to see. "Miz is emotional," Murphy told reporters. "And that's good, we don't want to bottle that up. But as he's matured this year, you've seen huge changes in this kid in how he's handled situations. He's not just excited to get out of the first. He doesn't want to burn any more energy."
On Saturday, Misiorowski had put the difference from last October in plainer terms. "The only thing is confidence," he said. "Going into last year's postseason, I didn't know if I was going to be on the roster. This year they trust me a little bit more."
He needed that in the fourth. Teoscar Hernández singled to open it. Muncy struck out looking, Pages flew to Lara in right, and with Tucker batting and two outs, a balk moved Hernández to second. There was no review. Misiorowski then struck Tucker out swinging and pumped a fist on the way off the mound. Turang led off the bottom of the fourth and tied it.
Skubal had been sharper through the first three innings. He retired nine of the first 10 Brewers he faced and struck out six, with Andrew Vaughn's double in the second the only early baserunner, according to MLB.com's Sonja Chen. Then he fell behind Turang 2-0 and threw a sinker that caught too much of the plate. Left on left, Turang sent it past Andy Pages and into the bullpen. Chen noted it was the first time in eight postseason starts Skubal did not record an out beyond the fifth.
Milwaukee took the lead the way it won 103 games during the year. Mitchell walked to open the fifth. Pratt sacrificed him to second, Freddie Freeman to Enrique Hernández. Lara ripped a sharp grounder through the middle, Mitchell scored, and it was 2-1. Joey Ortiz grounded out, Lara moving to second. Jackson Chourio singled off Max Muncy at third, Lara to third. Turang walked to load the bases. William Contreras flew to Tucker in right, and Skubal was done after 81 pitches: 5 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, one homer.
Misiorowski left after walking Betts with one out in the fifth, tied at 1. He finished 4.1 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 94 pitches. Murphy told FOX in-game, "Jacob doesn't have his best stuff, but he's grinding though and doing everything he can. Love his competitiveness." After touching 104 in the first inning and throwing every fastball 100+ for the first two innings, Misiorowski was sitting 98 to 100 by the 4th inning. DL Hall inherited Betts in the 5th and got Freeman to ground into a double play, Turang to Pratt to Bauers. Hall got the win.
Abner Uribe worked the sixth with traffic. Ohtani singled with one out, Muncy singled with two outs to put Ohtani at third, and Uribe struck out Pages swinging to leave him there. Aaron Ashby threw two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. Trevor Megill closed the ninth. He got Muncy to pop up and Pages to line out to left, then walked Tucker and pinch-hitter Josue De Paula. Betts flew to Mitchell, and the series opened Milwaukee's way.
I grew up a Brewers kid out of Green Bay, and a 2-1 October night with both starters grinding and the bullpen answering every traffic jam is about as close as you get to my preferred baseball without needing an 11-9.
Game 2 is still ahead. Sunday came down to Turang's swing, Lara's single, Misiorowski's stubborn middle innings, and a bullpen that kept saying no.