Jackson Chourio hit two homers, went 4 for 5, drove in four and scored four Thursday night, and the Milwaukee Brewers handled the New York Mets 8-2 behind Jacob Misiorowski. One player accounted for half his team's runs. That is not a hot streak, that is a takeover.
Look at the shape of that line for a second. Four hits in five trips is a fine night for anybody. Four hits with two of them over the fence, four runs driven in and four runs scored is the sort of box score a kid keeps in a drawer. Chourio is 22 and Milwaukee committed to him long-term before he had taken a big league at-bat, which at the time got the usual eyebrows about paying for projection. Nights like this are what the projection looked like on paper.
Misiorowski got the pitching end of it. I don't have his full line in front of me yet, but the Mets scored twice, and two runs is a quiet evening for a New York lineup that does not usually go quiet. He is the same arm who was pushed into an All-Star conversation as a rookie with barely a handful of starts on his record, which tells you what the stuff looks like when it is under control. Thursday it was under control.
checked the almanac: baseball has always had a soft spot for the young power hitter who scores as often as he drives in, because it means he is doing damage at the top and the bottom of the order at the same time. rare shape. fun to watch.
What comes next is a quick turn for both clubs. The Mets are back at it Friday night at home against Houston at 7:11 ET, which is not the gentlest way to shake off a 8-2 loss. Milwaukee hosts Texas at 7:41 ET. What I'm watching is whether Chourio keeps the same swing decisions against a Rangers staff that will pitch him differently now, because pitchers adjust to a night like Thursday faster than fans do.
