Corbin Burnes

With his pitch count at 115 after eight innings, Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell knew that Corbin Burnes has several more very important innings ahead of him.  It’s why Counsell removed Burnes, despite his not allowing a hit and allowed closer Josh Hader to nail down his 31st save and preserve a combined no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night.

It’s the second no-hitter in Brewers franchise history and the first since Juan Nieves no-hit the Baltimore Orioles on April 15, 1987.

It’s been a remarkable year for Burnes, who continues to make a strong bid for the National League Cy Young Award.  He opened the season with 58 strikeouts before he walked his first batter, which set a Major League record.  He finished with 14 strikeouts on Saturday night.  A single walk in the seventh inning is the only thing that prevented Burnes and Hader from combining for a perfect game.

The Brewers pushed their record to a franchise best 33 games over .500.  Their magic number to clinch the National League Central is down to seven. [Read more…]