Jacob Misiorowski fired a 100.8 MPH fastball past Shohei Ohtani with two outs and Mookie Betts on base in the top of the third inning of 2026 NLCS Game 1 — and that was the pitch everyone is going to be talking about. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 at American Family Field and now lead the series 1-0. The strikeout was the viral moment of the night, but the full story is messier: Misiorowski grinded, Ohtani actually reached base twice, and Milwaukee needed its bullpen to close it out.
The moment: a 100 MPH fastball meets the longest slump of Ohtani’s career
The third inning opened with Betts singling. Two outs later, Ohtani stepped in and Misiorowski went right at him with heat — 100.8 MPH, according to MLB’s official tracking. Ohtani couldn’t touch it. Strikeout, threat over.
The context makes that punchout hit harder. Ohtani is carrying the longest home run drought of his time in Los Angeles: he hasn’t gone deep since August 18, 2026 at Coors Field — a stretch of 101 plate appearances and 22 full games without a homer, slashing .151/.277/.198 in that span. In the NLDS against Atlanta he went 2-for-13 with four strikeouts, and Dave Roberts dropped him to fifth in the lineup for the first time since he joined the Dodgers.
That said, Ohtani wasn’t a ghost in Game 1. He reached base twice — a walk and a single — and scored the Dodgers’ only run. The strikeout was the moment, not the whole story of his night.
Misiorowski won the matchup, but it was a grind on the mound
The Milwaukee starter got the win and the highlight of the night, but his line wasn’t pretty: 4⅓ innings, 5 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 94 pitches — only 60 for strikes. Inefficient by his regular-season standards. His fifth pitch of the first inning already touched 104 MPH, so the arm was clearly live. The issue was command, not stuff.
With three walks issued, the Dodgers had their chances — but they went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left 7 men on base. Milwaukee’s bullpen did the rest: after Misiorowski exited in the fifth, the relievers threw 4⅔ perfect innings to protect the lead.
The offense did its part too. Brice Turang tied the game with a home run in the fourth, and Luis Lara delivered the go-ahead hit in the fifth. A collective win — even if the starter owned the headline.
This rivalry has history
This matchup between Misiorowski and Ohtani isn’t new. On July 8, 2025, Ohtani hit a 431-foot home run off him on the first pitch of the game — then Misiorowski responded by striking out the next five batters and finishing with 12 punchouts in six innings. And in the 2025 NLCS, the Dodgers swept the Brewers in four games, with Ohtani winning series MVP.
This is the rematch. Milwaukee has the early edge.
Misiorowski’s 2026 numbers put the moment in perspective
That fastball wasn’t a fluke — it’s what Misiorowski does all season long. His 2026 regular-season numbers across 30 starts and 174.2 innings:
- ERA: 1.80 · WHIP: 0.80
- 252 strikeouts vs. 44 walks — 37.9% strikeout rate
- xERA: 2.13
- Average fastball: 99.7 MPH with 2,625 RPM spin rate
- Whiff rate: 37.3%
- Opponents batting .157 against him
- Average exit velocity allowed: 87.2 MPH
- Barrel rate allowed: 3.6%
Where he ranks league-wide by Statcast percentile:
- xERA: 99th percentile (elite)
- Strikeout rate: 100th percentile (elite)
- Walk rate: 81st percentile
- Whiff rate: 99th percentile (elite)
- Fastball velocity: 100th percentile (elite)
- Fastball spin: 99th percentile (elite)
- xwOBA against: 99th percentile (elite)
- Soft contact allowed: 83rd percentile
- Barrels avoided: 96th percentile (elite)
- Hard contact avoided: 86th percentile
Milwaukee leads the 2026 NLCS 1-0. Game 2 is next.
