Burnes goes with what works
Even without best stuff he frustrates hitters
ST. LOUIS – Corbin Burnes was pitching so well this season, he didn't really need to find another gear.
But it appears he has found one. For the third consecutive outing in August, Burnes was nearly unhittable Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, holding the St. Louis Cardinals to two hits over six scoreless innings as the roadwarrior Milwaukee Brewers held on for a 2-0 victory, their 16th in their last 18 games away from home.
In those three starts this month, Burnes' combined pitching line is 21 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 23 K. For the season, he is 8-4 with a 2.13 earned run average.
And to think that Burnes considered his work against the Cardinals something of a struggle. It was if you compare it to his previous start in Chicago against the Cubs, when he struck out 15 in eight shutout innings, tying a majorleague record with 10 in a row during one stretch.
“This Cardinals team likes to work the count against me,” said Burnes, who surrendered his only two hits in the sixth inning. “They try to get deep in counts. Tonight, we were fighting everything mechanically. Didn't have the best stuff.
“(Catcher) Omar (Narváez) did a great job of mixing things up with the curveball because the cutter wasn't really there. We had only a couple changeups in the (strike) zone, so we had to mix and match throughout the game. So, credit to him for keeping them off-balance. Not a lot of punchouts so we had to use everything.
“I didn't really have that good cutter, down and away. The cutters I did throw with two strikes were up in the zone and were flyouts or swings and misses. The righties were looking out over the plate against me; that's typically what they do. So, we ran a couple sinkers in there, but my speed dial is always that curveball.”
And that “speed dial” worked on consecutive pitches during Burnes' moment of truth in the sixth. After singles by Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt put runners on the corners with one down, Burnes threw consecutive first-pitch curves to the dangerous Nolan Arenado and Tyler O'Neill, and both of them fouled out.
“He wasn't quite as sharp as maybe the Chicago game but he still pitched really, really well,” said Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose team achieved two season bests – 26 games over .500 (73-47) and 8 games atop the NL Central.
“He made some big pitches in the sixth, I thought. They were curveballs that kind of backed up a little bit, but he got two pop-ups and got out of it and that was it, really. They made him work, for sure. They took him into deep counts. They did a nice job of that especially early in the game, but he kept making pitches. His curveball was a nice pitch for him tonight, so it was a good start. A really good start.”
Followed by solid relief work by the triumvirate of Brad Boxberger, Devin Williams and Josh Hader, who have been so dependable in locking down the seventh, eighth and ninth innings of victories this season, respectively.
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It's why the Brewers are 54-3 this season when leading after seven innings and 56-1 when leading after eight. While teams across both leagues have trouble on a nightly basis closing out teams, the Brewers take leads into the late innings and keep them.
“When our job as a starter is really only to get through six innings, knowing that they are going to have the last three, it makes our job a lot easier to go out and not give in, in certain counts,” Burnes said.
“Against a good team like the Cardinals, you're just trying to make them swing at pitches out of the zone and make them chase a little bit. That's why the pitch count was a little elevated, knowing that the bullpen was rested and we could go right to them.”
The Cardinals and Brewers, who had not met since early May, have 12 more games against each other over the final weeks of the season.
St. Louis hoped to use this series as a springboard to put some pressure on Milwaukee, but you have to score to win, and the Brewers have been one of the best teams in holding down opponents at the plate.
“It doesn't matter – 10 games (back) or what – this team will fight to the very end,” said Kolten Wong, who went 3 for 4 and got on base four times. “So, to come in here and get that first win is huge for us. We're definitely excited about that.
“Any more wins we can get in the next two would be huge. Just continue to create separation and keep us out in front.”
As for the chances of winning with Burnes pitching, Wong said, “Every time he steps on the mound, you kind of have that confidence knowing it's probably going to be a good day for us. He just kind of has that about him. When he walks in from the bullpen you can see he's confident and we kind of feed off of it.