The Milwaukee Brewers made their mark on Opening Day with a 14-2 win over the Chicago White Sox to begin the 2026 season 1-0. Afterward, manager Pat Murphy met with the media.

The first topic that came up was the performance of Jacob Misiorowski, the 23-year-old right-hander who got the starting nod for Milwaukee. Misiorowski gave up a leadoff solo shot to in a full count to second baseman Chase Wiedroth. 

Afterward, Misiorowski began to dominate. By the end of his outing, he had gone five innings with 11 strikeouts while only allowing one more hit and no more runs the rest of the afternoon. His 11 strikeouts were the most in franchise history on Opening Day.

“I mean, sometimes you got to get punched in the face to respond,” Murphy said. “And I thought Miz did a great job responding. Yeah, I mean, I don't look at it as historic in terms of how we threw the ball. 

“You know, I think he did some really good things,” Murphy added. “And he matured, which we're hoping for, and I think that's the things to get excited about, what it means for the future. To get through the fourth and the fifth the way he did, he made some big pitches at big times.”

Murphy also praised shortstop Joey Ortiz, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, one of which came in a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the second inning to get Milwaukee on the board.

“I mean, the game will find you, if you know what I mean,” Murphy said. “Things that you wish don't happen sometimes come to fruition. So, I feel like although that was a dump, he just dumped it in there, it's still a positive note for Joe to know that he's needed and wanted, and that we appreciate who he is as a player.

“So, he ended up having two excellent at-bats after that,” Murphy said. “So, I think that's the effect of it.”

Murphy also admitted that the Brewers were not finding their way at first on the offensive end, but then things began coming together for them.

“I mean, offensively, we didn't execute early, we didn't,” Murphy said. “You know, William [Contreras] bailed us out with a big two-run double, but we didn't execute in those execution-type times, but then we just kept pecking away. 

“You know, taking our walks, good strike-ball,” he added. “And then Sal and Bauers, you know, you think about it, Bauers doesn't hit that unless Lockridge, you know, gets down the line. You know, a lot of guys hit a rollover ground ball [and] are ticked off and jogged to first. He decided to say, ‘Look, I want to keep this inning alive.’”

Murphy also credited the fans for showing up on Opening Day.

“Yeah, I mean it was impressive,” Murphy said. “These fans are fabulous, you know, they've taken this team and they've recognized who those guys are in the room, you know, and that's been a fun thing to see the fans recognize our brand of baseball that they created and how they play it.”

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