LOS ANGELES (AP) — A dominant fastball has made Jacob Misiorowski one of the most exciting pitchers in baseball over the past two seasons, but it was an effective slider that helped him get out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in the Milwaukee Brewers' 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
“He’s understanding how his breaking stuff moves and what he can do with it on any particular day,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Misiorowski allowed one run on five hits in six innings, needing an expanded arsenal of pitches to get out of the fifth unscathed after the bottom of the Dodgers' order had three consecutive singles to bring up Ohtani with one out. The two superstars had already faced off twice, with Misiorowski throwing six straight fastballs over 102 mph to retire him on a popup leading off the game.
Misiorowski needed three pitches to fan Ohtani, and only one was a fastball. Instead, catcher William Contreras called for a curveball and slider to bookend that 102.4 mph heater.
“William took control and saw something, and we readjusted,” said Misiorowski, who improved to 12-5 while lowering his ERA to 1.75 with his 13th start this season allowing one or zero runs.
Misiorowski carried over the momentum to get Freeman swinging on five pitches, executing another slider to end the inning.
“I was trying to throw sliders down to get Shohei to bounce something, but, no, I got swings and misses. Kind of took that same approach into the Freddie Freeman at-bat, and was trying to get the same outcome, and it worked out,” Misiorowski said.
For Murphy, a growing repertoire of pitches is another indication of the 24-year-old Misiorowski's development.
“Proved to everyone out there thinking, like, ‘Hey, this guy can pitch. Is he just a heater?’ He executed pitches,” Murphy said.
Ohtani drove in the Dodgers' only run with a triple in the third inning, sending a choppy ground ball bouncing over first baseman Gary Sánchez into the right-field corner, but Murphy refused to call it a mistake by Misiorowski.
“You want Ohtani to hit one into the ground, you know what I mean?” Murphy said.
Misiorowski relished the challenge of facing Ohtani at Dodger Stadium for a national TV audience again, having done so in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series last October. He took the loss in a 3-1 defeat after allowing one run in five innings as the Dodgers went on to sweep the Brewers before claiming a second straight World Series title.
“That was fun. Being in the postseason, it was a different animal,” Misiorowski said. “Just gave me more confidence going into this year.”
It would not be a surprise if the Dodgers and Brewers meet up again this fall. Milwaukee is assured to come out of the four-game series with a better record that Los Angeles by having won two of the first three in the showdown of division leaders, a crucial result as they jockey for home-field advantage.
Having seen Misiorowski rise to the occasion on an August afternoon, Murphy expects his burgeoning ace will be ready should the teams face off again with greater stakes.
“Miz is very, very capable, and he's mentally ready for these challenges,” Murphy said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, left, celebrates after striking out Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded during the fifth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, left, celebrates after striking out Los Angeles Dodgers' Tommy Edman during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East visited the long-deployed USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea during a regional tour that ended on Saturday, the U.S. Central Command said.
A Hamas delegation and, separately, U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner were in Egypt for Gaza ceasefire-related talks with Egyptian officials. And the 60-day negotiating period that began with the June 17 signing of an interim agreement between the U.S. and Iran is set to end with no word of an extension.
Here’s a look at the latest developments on Sunday in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Adm. Brad Cooper visited the USS Lincoln as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. It has spent a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days.
“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday. Extended deployments of carriers — which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board — have raised concerns.
Cooper also went to Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to meet with civilian and military leaders, according to the Central Command statement.
The U.S. Navy's blockade is in response to Iran asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz after the war started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes. Before then, about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through what had been considered an international waterway.
Talks between the U.S. and Iran have stalled while Iran talks with Oman about how to manage the strait that runs between them.
A Hamas delegation, chaired by leader Khalil al-Hayya, was in Cairo for Gaza ceasefire-related talks, the group said. Al-Hayya met with Maj. Gen. Hassan Rashad, head of Egypt’s intelligence service, Egyptian state-run media reported.
Al-Hayya reiterated Hamas’ commitment to implement U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan in Gaza to “end the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip and to begin the reconstruction process," al-Qahera News television reported.
Mediators are pushing for the implementation of a road map that calls for the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the handing over of power to Palestinian technocrats.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Trump’s latest plan to advance the stalled ceasefire, saying Israel will not withdraw from any of the roughly 60% of the territory it controls until Hamas has been completely disarmed — something the militant group controlling the rest has resisted.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether al-Hayya would meet with Kushner, the Board of Peace’s high representative Nickolay Mladenov or executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who are scheduled to travel to Israel and Egypt this week.
Separately, Kushner met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The president’s office said the meeting called for Israel and Hamas to “fulfill their obligations under the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip,” without elaborating.
Israel’s military said it targeted two Hezbollah commanders in Saturday's strikes in southern Lebanon, the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went into effect in June.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said at least 11 people were killed.
Israel’s military said early Sunday one strike killed Abu Hassan Alaa, whom it described as a senior Hezbollah commander who had taken part in attacks against Israel’s soldiers in southern Lebanon. Earlier, the military said a strike killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, also described as a Hezbollah commander, adding that his family was with him.
Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” in June, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament. Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the U.S.-mediated deal.
Iran again on Sunday alleged that Qatar was holding three Iranian pilots who went missing in March when their jets were downed, which Qatar has denied.
Iran’s state TV reported Sunday that the commander of the Missing Persons Committee of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff has urged Qatar to allow Iranian Air Force experts to conduct a field investigation.
This is the first known case in the war where Iran has said a regional country is holding its fighters. Tehran has repeatedly targeted regional countries that are hosting U.S. military bases.
An Israeli strike hit Khan Younis in southern Gaza and wounded five people, including a child who was seriously injured, according to the Kuwaiti and Nasser hospitals, where the casualties were taken.
Israel's military said it struck a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October between Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes, killing at least 1,262 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
Palestinians remove iron from the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes during the war with Hamas, repair and recycle it for construction, building tents or selling it, in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians remove iron from the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes during the war with Hamas, repair and recycle it for construction, building tents or selling it, in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
People walk beneath an art installation of colorful spheres along a pedestrian street in Jaffa, a mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
