MILWAUKEE — Jacob Misiorowski closed one of the most dominant pitching seasons in history with a final postseason tune-up, striking out Jordan Walker to end 5 1/3 scoreless innings in the Milwaukee Brewers' 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at American Family Field on Sunday. The 24-year-old, 6-foot-7 ace received standing ovations both trotting to the dugout to warm up and walking off the mound as Milwaukee finished a franchise-record 103-59 regular season with the best record in baseball.
Misiorowski allowed two hits and two walks with five strikeouts and touched 102.7 mph with his fastball. The outing left him at 174 2/3 innings with a Major League-leading 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts, 0.80 WHIP and .157 opponents' average, sweeping the four major pitching rate categories.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he joined Sandy Koufax (1965), J.R. Richard (1976) and Mike Scott (1986) as the only pitchers since 1950 to lead the Majors in ERA, strikeouts and opponents' average. He also joined Corbin Burnes (2021) as the only pitchers in Brewers franchise history to win MLB's ERA title, and joined Justin Verlander (2019) and Pedro Martínez (2000) as the only pitchers ever with 250-plus strikeouts and a WHIP as low as 0.80.
Among pitchers with at least 170 innings, his 37.9% strikeout rate ranks second to Gerrit Cole's 39.9% in 2019, ahead of Pedro Martínez (37.5% in 1999), Randy Johnson (37.4% in 2001) and Spencer Strider (36.8% in 2023). His 0.80 WHIP ties Verlander (2019) behind Pedro Martínez (0.74 in 2000) and Walter Johnson (0.78 in 1913), and his .157 opponents' average is the lowest on record ahead of Martínez (.167 in 2000), Luis Tiant (.168 in 1968) and Nolan Ryan (.171 in 1972, .172 in 1991). Since the mound was lowered in 1969, his 1.80 ERA ranks 11th, trailing Dwight Gooden (1.53 in 1985), Greg Maddux (1.56 in 1994 and 1.63 in 1995), Zack Greinke (1.66 in 2015), Jacob deGrom (1.70 in 2018), Pedro Martínez (1.74 in 2000), Ron Guidry (1.74 in 1978), Justin Verlander (1.75 in 2022), Tom Seaver (1.76 in 1971) and Jake Arrieta (1.77 in 2015), just ahead of Vida Blue (1.82 in 1971), Clayton Kershaw (1.83 in 2014) and Roger Clemens (1.87 in 2005).
Milwaukee rode that dominance to 103 wins, the best mark in baseball, with Misiorowski as the clear leader of the staff heading into the postseason. Every start day became an event during the record-setting season, and the finale was no different — a scoreless wrap that tied a bow on a year that stands with the most efficient and overpowering in modern history.