The Milwaukee Brewers were one hit away from a night that looked lost, then turned it into a 9-7 win over the Colorado Rockies with eight runs across the ninth and 10th innings. What had been a quiet game for most of the evening flipped in a hurry, and Milwaukee walked off with a comeback that began when the club entered the bottom of the ninth with just one hit and one run.
That is why Jacob Misiorowski is in the conversation now: the Brewers keep finding ways to win, even when the offense is stuck for long stretches and the pitching staff is being stretched by injuries. Brian Fitzpatrick left during his warm-ups entering the bottom of the seventh inning, then reportedly felt a pop after the game and was scheduled for an MRI on Saturday, a troubling turn for a bullpen that was already taking on water.
Colorado had spent much of the night doing enough to stay in front. Jake McCarthy doubled in the first inning, the Rockies grabbed a 1-0 lead, and Milwaukee answered when Jake Bauers hit his 11th double of the season and Luis Rengifo tied it 1-1 with a groundout. Later, Edouard Julien singled in a run and Hunter Goodman added a solo homer for Colorado, while Ryan Feltner held Milwaukee to one run over six innings, striking out four and walking two.
The Brewers’ problem was bigger than a cold start. Brandon Sproat gave up three runs on seven hits and has now allowed at least three runs in each of his last five outings, and both starters had struggled to keep the ball in the park this season. That is what made Milwaukee’s finish so unusual: after eight innings of almost nothing, the Brewers sent the game into a late surge that erased the deficit and made the final score look nothing like the first eight frames.
The injury news may end up carrying as much weight as the comeback itself. Fitzpatrick’s departure came at a point when Milwaukee’s pitching depth was already being tested, and he could become the fifth left-hander to land on the injured list for the Brewers. If the MRI confirms a significant strain, the club’s bullpen shuffle may matter as much as the runs it scored late.
For one night, though, the Brewers escaped with the kind of win that changes a box score and a mood in the same breath. The bigger question is not how they scored eight runs in two innings. It is whether they can keep winning through the next round of pitching losses if Fitzpatrick joins the list of arms headed for medical scans.
