Well, it’s hard to imagine Opening Day having gone much better for the Brewers. Milwaukee’s bats came alive early and never let up, while Jacob Misiorowski and the bullpen shut down the White Sox to earn the Brewers a convincing victory.
Chicago was actually the first team to put a run on the board after Misiorowski threw a 99-mph fastball up and in to White Sox leadoff hitter Chase Meidroth. Meidroth was ready, sending the pitch deep into the left field bleachers to give the Sox a quick 1-0 lead. Thankfully, Misiorowski then struck out the next three batters, which ended up being more indicative of how the game would go for Milwaukee.
Brice Turang led off the bottom of the first with a line-drive double, but the next three batters — William Contreras, Christian Yelich, and Andrew Vaughn — all made outs to keep the Brewers scoreless. Misiorowski kept the White Sox off the board in the second inning, allowing only a walk to Munetaka Murakami. Miz picked up two more strikeouts in the frame, bringing him to a total of five through only two innings.
Milwaukee took the lead in the bottom of the second against White Sox starter Shane Smith. Smith struck out Jake Bauers to start the frame, but Sal Frelick worked a walk on a full count to give the Brewers a baserunner. David Hamilton, making his Brewers debut, reached on a catcher’s interference by Edgar Quero. Smith then issued a five-pitch walk to Garrett Mitchell, with all four balls well out of the strike zone. That loaded the bases for who else but Joey Ortiz, who looped a shallow fly ball into right field that dropped just out of reach of a sprinting Meidroth. Frelick scored to tie the game at 1-1.
With the bases still loaded, Turang struck out looking. Smith was just one out away from getting out of the inning relatively unscathed, but the next batter — Contreras — smoked a double down the third base line to clear the bases.
That would be it for Smith in his first Opening Day start. Sean Newcomb came in to face Christian Yelich, who grounded out to end the inning. Nevertheless, the damage was done. Milwaukee led 4-1 after two, a lead they would never relinquish.
At this point in the game, Misiorowski was rolling. Despite needing 94 pitches to get through five innings, Miz gave up just one hit — an infield single to Austin Hays — and struck out 11, an Opening Day franchise record. He did walk three batters, but otherwise more than looked the part of a No. 1 starter in his first season at the top of the Brewers’ rotation.
Milwaukee tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth against Newcomb, thanks to a rally that started with Hamilton beating out an infield hit. Mitchell advanced him to second base with a sacrifice bunt, after which Hamilton promptly stole third. Joey Ortiz then hit his second single of the day — this one much harder hit — to give the Brewers their first run of the inning. Brice Turang grounded out for the second out, advancing Ortiz to second in the meantime. Newcomb then walked Contreras to face Yelich with runners on first and second. Bad idea. Yelich ripped a single into center. Ortiz scored, but Contreras was thrown out trying to take third base.
Milwaukee would score five more runs over the next two innings. Sal Frelick hit a two-run homer into the second deck in the fifth to give the Crew an 8-1 lead. Jordan Hicks came in for the sixth and immediately gave up a single to Turang, who was then thrown out trying to steal second. After that, Hicks promptly melted down, walking two batters before allowing an RBI single to Andrew Vaughn. Bauers popped up for the second out, but Hicks walked Frelick to load the bases. That brought up Hamilton, who — you guessed it — walked, scoring another run. Jedixson Paez came in for Hicks, but he was unable to get out of the inning before walking in another run, bringing the score to Brewers 11, White Sox 1.
Bauers, the Brewers’ hottest hitter this spring, hit a three-run bomb (108.6-mph exit velocity) in the seventh to widen the lead even further. Chicago got a run back in the ninth off the newest Brewer, reliever Jake Woodford, courtesy of a home run from former NPB Triple Crown winner Munetaka Murakami. That brought the game to its final score: Milwaukee 14, Chicago 2.
Every starter had a hit today except Mitchell, who walked twice and had a sacrifice bunt. Turang, Yelich, Bauers, and Ortiz each had two hits. The pitching staff (Misiorowski, Aaron Ashby, Grant Anderson, DL Hall, and Woodford) combined to allow just four hits while striking out 20. Milwaukee dominated this game in essentially every way possible.
The Crew have a day off tomorrow before continuing their three-game series with the White Sox on Saturday. Chad Patrick will get the ball for Milwaukee, with right-hander Sean Burke slated to start for the visiting team. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.