The host Milwaukee Brewers will try to win a second series against the Chicago Cubs in the first month of the season on Wednesday afternoon.
The two teams split the first two games with Chicago winning 3-2 on Tuesday night. The Brewers took two of three against the Cubs at Wrigley Field last week.
Milwaukee starter Corbin Burnes (0-1, 0.73 ERA) will be making his third start of the season and hoping to finally get some run support. Burnes seeks his first win after two fantastic starts so far.
Last Thursday, Burnes started at St. Louis and received a no-decision in the Brewers’ 3-1 loss. Burnes pitched six innings of one-hit ball, giving up no runs and striking out nine on 86 pitches.
In his opening start against Minnesota, he took a 2-0 loss despite going 6 1/3 innings and allowing just one run on one hit while striking out 11. In that game, Burnes retired 19 straight batters before allowing a solo homer to Twins outfielder Byron Buxton.
Per MLB stats, Burnes is one of just three pitchers (Hal Brown in 1963, Cy Young in 1904) to have consecutive games where he went six-plus innings with no walks and no more than one hit allowed. He is the first pitcher in modern history to do it in consecutive starts.
Opponents are batting .051 (2-for-39, one home run) against Burnes so far this season. But the Brewers have not put up any runs for him.
The Brewers have eight runs in this series so far — with six coming in a single inning on Monday.
“We have to score a little bit more, there’s no question about it,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. “We have two guys who are pitching well. They’re off to good starts and have a lot of confidence in what they’re doing. That’s going to help us down the road, we know that.”
Burnes is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in eight career games and two starts against the Cubs.
Jake Arrieta (2-0, 2.25) goes for the Cubs and is the only Chicago pitcher to get two wins this season — both coming against the Pirates.
In his previous start, Arrieta gave up two runs on seven hits and three walks. In his first outing, he gave up one run on six hits and a walk.
“It was a battle from the get-go,” Arrieta said after his second start against Pittsburgh. “I just had to mix it up, find a way to control the lineup, and I did that pretty well. … Didn’t have a few pitches throughout the game, but I was able to find them in big situations when I needed them.”
Arrieta has made 19 career starts against the Brewers (15 as a member of the Cubs) and is 9-7 with a 3.30 ERA. In that time, he has 99 strikeouts with 44 walks. The Brewers are hitting .254 against him.
