Dodgers turning Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski fears into a trend provided a subtle victory

The Los Angeles Dodgers are 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position through their first five postseason games. Both of those hits have come from Andy Pages, one of which was a bouncer through the right side that agitated Jacob Misiorowski on Sunday night in Game 1.

And while the Dodgers didn't secure the victory, they did plant another larger seed of doubt in the head of Misiorowski, adding to the worry that maybe his high-octane stuff doesn't translate so well to the postseason, with the finest-tuned offenses in the game zeroing in and cutting out the chase.

His first start this October, Game 1 against the San Diego Padres, was also a high-pitch-count slog. He struck out six, walked one, and allowed four hits in four frames, but most importantly threw 88 pitches. After one look at Misiorowski's popping fastball, it seems impossible to believe that even the most dogged team can chip away and frustrate him. But the Padres did it, and the Dodgers - after watching him breeze through the first inning on Sunday night - took aim in the second.

Shohei Ohtani worked a walk, as Misiorowski's lost mechanics presented themselves between the first and second frames. Teoscar Hernández flipped one into right, elevating and not trying to pull. Pages, who knocked in the Dodgers' only run, purposefully rolled over and chopped the baseball in the hole - the broadcast's cut to Miguel Rojas in the dugout celebrating the exact half-effort swing he'd attempted to employ spoke volumes. The Dodgers had their game plan simplified and distilled, and it worked to a tee - Misiorowski miraculously escaped that inning with a double play, but his number was called after 94 pitches, three walks, and 13 outs.

Dodgers' double play was the turning point in Game 1, but Brewers' bullpen usage could still turn the series

In Misiorowski's wake, DL Hall escaped the fifth on just four pitches. Their higher-leverage arms, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, and Trevor Megill, threw 15, 26, and 19 pitches, respectively.

Megill, in particular, seemed somewhat exposed, especially as his inning dragged on. Max Muncy got ahead in the count 2-0 to lead off the inning, took a slider for a streak, then popped up a hanger. At that point, Megill's breaker became next to useless; he spiked it into the dirt with regularity against Kyle Tucker (who knifed into Misiorowski's pitch count plenty himself) and Josue De Paula, who shook his head and preened like Baby Juan Soto. The final out, a Mookie Betts medium-depth fly, felt somewhat stunning as Megill unraveled.

But that's been the narrative of the Dodgers' 3-2 start to the postseason. Their bats have provided an abnormally low percentage of clutch hits, but they've survived and advanced because of their remarkable arms and their penchant for the long ball. Eventually, their quality at-bats will translate into more run production with traffic on the bases - and the pitching and home runs will still be there.

The Dodgers worked Misiorowski and the Brewers' bullpen for all they were worth in the opener, and will now face a worn-down version of the corps in Game 2 tonight. The next time they see Misiorowski will likely be Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, as the data piles up against him (and his mechanical worries compound). Sunday's Game 1 ensured we will have a series, unlike last year. But it's nowhere near over yet, and the Dodgers tipped a few significant scales below the surface in this one.

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