Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison nearly joined the record books in his return from the Injured List.
As the sixth inning was set to get underway between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison had a chance to do something special in his team’s 4-2 win.
At that point, Harrison, in his return to the mound after being sidelined for nearly a month with left forearm tightness, had struck out the last eight batters he faced.
If he could reach 10 strikeouts in a row, he could have joined former Brewers ace Corbin Burnes, Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola and former New York Mets right-hander Tom Seaver as the only pitchers to accomplish the feat. If he could reach 11, he would set the new record.
Instead, something was wrong in Harrison’s warmups for the sixth. Not with his arm that placed him on the Injured List, but with his calves.
Harrison was dealing with cramping, and though his efforts to alleviate it included ingesting pickle juice and "hot cinnamon stuff," he was unable to work through the cramps during warmups for the sixth inning, and he yielded to his body’s limitations.
For Harrison, it was an issue that began in the fifth inning.
"So, just trying to get the cramps out, you know, those last two hitters in the fifth inning just kind of locking up on me," he said to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other present members of the media.
"I had the groin locking up, the calves were just cramping. So, first time I really experienced like a full-body cramp out there; powered through that and then thought I could manage to go out for the sixth."
Harrison voiced his frustrations with not being able to prolong his outing, especially because, aside from the cramping, he said he felt great.
Additionally, Harrison did not realize that he was so close to becoming just the fourth pitcher to notch 10 strikeouts in a row. Moreover, knowing that Burnes was one of the pitchers to do it is something that he admires.
While right-handed ace Jacob Misiorowski has dominated headlines during a successful 2026 season for the Brewers, the importance of Harrison cannot be overlooked. Wednesday’s emphatic performance earned him his ninth winning decision to make him 9-2 on the year.
Through 18 starts, Harrison has a 2.84 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP through 88.2 innings pitched. He has proven himself to be a noteworthy second arm in the starting rotation behind Misiorowski, and his performance after weeks away from an MLB mound is even more indicative of how impressive he is.
Harrison may not have been able to etch his name in the record books, but his return to the Brewers’ rotation is more important, especially after Brandon Woodruff has been lost for the season.
Alongside Misiorowski and newly acquired right-hander Dustin May, Harrison completes a trio of pitchers that should be very formidable for a Brewers team in strong pursuit of playing in October once again.
