During Tatsuya Imai’s previous appearance on the mound, his Houston Astros squad recorded Major League Baseball’s initial no-hit game since the year 2024.
Jacob Misiorowski delivered another stellar performance on Sunday. The starting pitcher for the Brewers eclipsed Imai’s efforts, throwing seven innings without conceding a run, guiding Milwaukee to a 2-0 victory against Imai’s Astros.
This flawless pitching exhibition marked the fifth time in six starts during May that the sophomore power pitcher kept opponents scoreless. He concluded the month having surrendered merely a single run across 38 and one-third innings. Misiorowski’s impressive clean sheet performance reduced his earned run average to 1.65, placing him among the frontrunners for the National League’s early Cy Young award contention.
His Sunday display was certainly not devoid of tense moments. In the third inning, the Astros managed to fill all bases, thanks to base hits from Jake Meyers and Jeremy Peña, followed by Yordan Alvarez being hit by a curveball on his back foot with two outs.
Nevertheless, Misiorowski forced an inning-concluding ground ball out from Christian Walker using a 1-0 fastball registering above 102 miles per hour.
Subsequently, during the fourth frame, Isaac Paredes hit a double with one out, marking the initial extra-base hit Misiorowski had given up in seven starts. Paredes advanced to third base following a groundout but remained there as Meyers flew out to end the inning.
Following that, Misiorowski demonstrated impeccable control, pitching three faultless innings to complete his time on the mound. He concluded his appearance having yielded three hits and zero bases on balls, alongside eight strikeouts over seven innings. His efficient performance required a mere 88 pitches, with 54 of them being strikes.
His velocity remained impressive, reaching 102 miles per hour as he secured his last strikeout during the sixth inning.
By virtue of Sunday’s game, Misiorowski wrapped up May having accumulated 57 strikeouts, issued six walks, and conceded only one earned run across 38.1 innings. He secured a victory in five of his six starts in May, which includes his most recent Sunday outing. The Brewers now hold a 35-21 record, maintaining a four-and-a-half-game advantage over the Chicago Cubs for the top spot in the NL Central division.
Imai Delivers Strong Performance After No-Hitter Despite Defeat
This appearance overshadowed what was otherwise Imai’s second consecutive excellent pitching effort; he surrendered two runs over six innings, reaching a career-high pitch count of 110 in his short Major League career. During his preceding start, Imai had contributed six no-hit innings to a combined 9-0 no-hitter against the Texas Rangers, finalized by relief pitchers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa.
During Sunday’s match, David Hamilton was the first to record a hit against Imai in the third inning. Following that, Jake Bauers broke the deadlock in the fourth frame with a two-run homer off Imai.
In what was considered a quality start, Imai permitted two earned runs on three hits and two walks, while also striking out five batters.
