MILWAUKEE — One Brewer turned on the mound’s radar gun, while another hit the fastest pitch for a postseason home run in the tracking era, as 23-year-old right-hander Jacob Miriorowski and 21-year-old outfielder Jackson Chourio put on a show Monday night while helping Milwaukee to a 2-0 lead over the Cubs of Chicago in the National Division Series.
Chourio blasted a fastball clocked at 101.4 mph from Cubs backhand Daniel Palencia for a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning, turning a one-run advantage into a comfortable 7-3 lead that held for the final score.
“He’s a star,” Brewers catcher William Contreras said of Chourio. “For me, I think he’s the best player we have here.”
Chourio left Game 1 Saturday after injuring his right hamstring in leggings on an outfield hit, but he showed no ill effects in Game 2. He is the youngest player in MLB history with three home runs in his first five career postseason games.
“I feel good,” Chourio said through an interpreter. “My mission from the beginning was to go out there and give everything my team needed. … I’m just looking for a good pitch to hit to bring the runner back to second. I was able to find one and push to three there.”
The Long Ball was a theme for the Brewers in Game 2. They hit three home runs, including an earlier three-run shot by first baseman Andrew Vaughn in the bottom of the first inning.
“Two three-run homers [in a] The playoff game, any game, tough to get through,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
MIRIOROWSKI kept the Cubs off the board during the middle innings after right fielder Seiya Suzuki gave Chicago a short-lived 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Flame rookie pitched innings three through five, throwing his first eight career postseason pitches 102 mph or faster. The final out of the third was a comeback from Miriorowski, which he mistook for first base himself. After stepping on the bag, he shouted in demonstrative excitement to the delight of the crowd.
“I think I was so pulled, adrenaline pumping not really knowing where my feet were, but we landed, so it was fun,” Miriorowski said.
Said Brewers manager Pat Murphy: “He was one of the keys to the game, and there were a lot of them. This game was a lot of different parts, but Miz stepped up.
MIRIOROWSKI struck out four in three innings – part of a postseason theme for the visiting Cubs who have struck out 58 times in five postseason games, including 11 times on Monday. MIRIOROWSKI gave up a hit and two walks, but the Cubs couldn’t put him back together.
“It’s really tough anytime you have a young pitcher,” Contreras said of Miriorowski. “It’s hard to do, but especially when he has that enthusiasm for the game and the enthusiasm to go out there and throw. As much as possible, trying to talk to him about staying focused, staying between the lines and staying at the pitch to throw there and continuing to compete.”
The victory has the Brewers on the cusp of the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2018, when Counsell was their manager. Counsell was also with Milwaukee as Chourio and Miriorowski worked their way through the system.
“Both very talented players, and yeah, I think you expected them to be big leaguers,” Counsell said.
Milwaukee will turn the ball over to Quinn Priester’s right when the five-game series moves to Wrigley Field for Game 3 on Wednesday, while the Cubs will counter with veteran Jameson Taillon, who has been their best pitcher of late.
It’s likely that Miriorowski will get the day after wowing with his fastball in Game 2.
“When he was warming up, I was talking to our infielders and I go, ‘He’s going to throw 104 here,’ and he did,” Vaughn said. “I definitely took a look at the big board.”
