It is hardly a new phenomenon to see starting pitchers – elite ones at that – get the final outs of the World Series, but the Milwaukee Brewers passed on that opportunity.
Up 3-2 heading into the bottom of the 12th, the Brewers were three outs away from a sweep to win their first Fall Classic. Having used up plenty of relievers, manager Pat Murphy decided to keep impending Cy Young Award winner Jacob Misiorowski in the dugout and go with Shane Drohan.
But Drohan, who got bitten by his defense, did not record an out, and a Game 5 will be played Wednesday night.
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After the game, Murphy said Misiorowski, who was always slated to, and will, start Game 5, was not an option.
“You can’t blow that type of situation on a one-run lead on the road,” Murphy said. “If we were in the 13th inning and had a three-run lead, that might be a little bit different, and I probably still wouldn’t have.”
The move was highly debated on social media in the early morning hours after the game.
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“I’m not crazy for thinking that the Brewers should have put in Misiorowski to start the inning, right? You need 3 outs, go use your best arm to get them,” one X user said.
“Not sure it gets as utter woke nonsense as saving the best pitcher in the world for a hypothetical game 5 where you’d still be up 3-1,” said another.
“Wouldn’t have needed a game 5 , congrats on out thinking yourself,” added one more.
And, of course, there’s the contrary.
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“They had 3-0 game lead. No reason to throw Misiorowski in this game,” one opposer said.
“What if he had and Tampa still won. He would have lost him for at least game 5,” a Rays fan wrote.
Misiorowski pitched to an MLB-leading 1.80 ERA this season, and his 252 strikeouts and 13.0 K/9 were also league bests . He has not found similar success in October, but he’s still fared quite nicely (2.70 ERA, 14 strikeouts in 13.1 innings spanning three starts).
Had Misiorowski blown the save (an unlikely scenario), who knows who would pitch Game 5, but it’s hard to imagine that he would not be available in a necessary Game 6 at home.
Murphy went with seven relievers after starter Dustin May tossed just three innings. Trevor Megill was used for one batter in the eighth inning, and Aaron Ashby, who has now allowed a run in 18.0 innings, started the ninth and was taken out after recording one out in the 11th.
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After an error to start the inning, the Tampa Bay Rays rattled off four straight hits to force Game 5 at Tropicana Field. First pitch is shortly after 8 p.m. ET.