Corbin Burnes
Milwaukee right-handed pitcher Corbin Burnes is trying to land a spot in the Brewers starting rotation and his performance on Wednesday night moved him in that direction.
Burnes retired all 12 batters he faced, striking out seven, to lead Team Gold to a 3-0 victory over Team Blue in the Brewers Blue & Gold World Series at Miller Park.
Burnes hit 98 mph with his fastball, retiring Christian Yelich twice (strikeout & ground out).
Omar Narvaez clubbed a two-run homer in the second inning off of Brett Anderson. Anderson’s night was done after two innings due to a blister on his pitching hand.
Orlando Arcia drove in the third run for the Gold Team with a run scoring single in the fourth.
Team Gold now leads the series 2-0 with game three at Miller Park on Thursday night.
Hiura scratched
Second baseman Keston Hiura was lifted prior to the game with right-arm discomfort. President of baseball operations David Stearns said the move was just precautionary.
Yelich summer camp struggles
Christian Yelich is 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in the first two games of the Brewers Blue & Gold World Series, but it doesn’t seem to bother manager Craig Counsell.
“It’s spring training,” Counsell said. “We’re fine. He’s fine. There are no concerns. This is how you get locked in. You have to go through this stuff. This is part of camp. It’d be great if every single year, you square a ball up in your first at-bat, but it’s different every year. Sometimes, it takes, 10, 15 or 20 at-bats until you get going.
“No concerns at all. It’s a little unique when you’re watching your own guys going against each other. From my perspective, it was a great night for Woody (Brandon Woodruff). He got exactly what we wanted out of that outing. His first three innings were really easy, then he had a stressful inning where he had to work. He had to throw a bunch of pitches to get through it, but finished it on a good note and came back out and threw 10-12 more pitches.
“I wanted the night to go well for Woody because it was one of the last tune-ups for him. Christian has some more time, some more days to get it straight, and he will. Absolutely. And if it helped Woody out, I’m fine with that.”