Jacob Misiorowski's no-hit bid cut short by frustrating injury scare

Jacob Misiorowski had everything working in his Friday night start against the Washington Nationals. Making his seventh start of the season, the Milwaukee Brewers' Opening Day starter came out firing in the nation's capital, living in the triple-digits with his four-seam fastball and fooling the Nationals hitters with his lethal secondary offerings.

Following a one-out walk to Nationals' third baseman Brady House in the second inning, Miz retired 12 consecutive batters. He maintained his impressive velocity throughout the start, which hasn't been the case in his first few outings of the season. However, as evidenced by the following stat from the great Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Miz's unicorn fastball was on a different level tonight.

Miz collected eight total strikeouts, six via the fastball and one each from his slider and changeup. However, even more impressive than his unparalleled velo or his continued hoarding of strikeouts was the fact that Miz had a no-hitter going through 5.1 innings.

Unfortunately, with his no-hitter still intact, Miz was forced to leave the game with one out in the sixth inning due to a hamstring cramp. After striking out Nationals' center fielder Jacob Young on a 100.1 mph fastball to start the sixth frame and throwing one pitch to James Wood, Miz was clearly in discomfort on the mound. A brief conversation with Brewers' athletic trainer Brad Epstein preceded Misiorowski's removal from the game.

Thankfully, after manager Pat Murphy's postgame comments, it sounds like the Brewers' talented young right-hander is going to be okay, and there appear to be no long-term concerns for Misiorowski.

Jacob Misiorowski expected to be okay after leaving no-hit bid with hamstring cramp

On the day that the Brewers placed veteran starter Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day IL due to right shoulder inflammation, a significant injury to their budding ace, Misiorowski, would have been especially hard to stomach. Milwaukee has already been the victim of three significant injuries to their position player group, and a similar string of injuries to their pitching staff would make their ability to tread water in a competitive NL Central that much more difficult.

However, Miz appears to have avoided a major injury. After the game, as seen on Brewers.TV, Murphy said in regard to Misiorowski's injury, "We feel pretty good about it. We're not going to test it right now because we're afraid he might cramp again, so we'll see where it is tomorrow. We're very hopeful. He [Misiorowski] feels good about it."

While it's frustrating that his chance at a no-hitter was cut short, what is far more important is that Misiorowski's injury scare is just that: a scare. Additionally, the flame-thrower was already at 85 pitches when he exited with one out in the sixth, so it's likely Miz wouldn't have made it much farther than the sixth inning anyways.

The Brew Crew took home a victory in game one of their series in Washington D.C., defeating the Nationals after being swept by them at American Family Field back in early April. Misiorowski earned the win and added to his MLB-leading strikeout total. The Brewers go for the series win tomorrow afternoon with Kyle Harrison on the bump. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CT.

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