Milwaukee Brewers rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski toed the rubber Tuesday night against the formidable Los Angeles Dodgers offense. After surrendering a leadoff home run to Shohei Ohtani, Misiorowski dialed in and didn't allow another run.
He ended his night with 12 strikeouts, one walk and four hits allowed across six innings. The 23-year-old picked up his fourth win of the season while also out-dueling one of MLB's all-time great starting pitchers in Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw had been asked about the up-and-coming Misiorowski prior to Tuesday's game, and admitted he wasn't even aware of who he'd be competing against on the mound and referred to the rookie as the "twisted-his-ankle guy."
"Is that the guy who twisted his ankle on the mound? The 'twisted-his-ankle' guy. I know he throws hard. I saw a couple highlights. He throws hard. But so does everybody," Kershaw said, referring to Misiorowski exiting his MLB debut in the midst of a no-hit bid after twisting his ankle.
After defeating the Dodgers in emphatic fashion, Misiorowski was asked about those remarks, and he remained classy in his response.
"I saw something online that he doesn’t know who I was. So I hope that he knows me now. It’s kind of cool," said Misiorowski, via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.
The rookie added that he has "all the respect in the world" for Kershaw and said it was "awesome" to have the opportunity to pitch against the future Hall of Famer.
He certainly left a strong impression on L.A.'s lineup after mowing down 12 hitters, including some of the best batters in baseball, in the win. So, if Misiorowski wasn't on Kershaw's radar prior to Tuesday's game, he certainly is now.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Brewers Star Rookie Pitcher Hopes Clayton Kershaw Knows Who He Is Now.
