Brewers 1, Marlins 0: Burnes Tops Alcantara in Pitchers Duel

Box Score
SP: Corbin Burnes: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (103 pitches, 62 strikes (60.2%))
Home Runs: None 
Top 3 WPA: Corbin Burnes (0.568), Devin Williams (0.161), Garrett Mitchell (0.38)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Cy Young Matchup    
Many times when two “Aces” match up, the game winds up being a 13-12 game where neither starter gets through four innings. Friday night’s matchup between a couple of Cy Young candidates was everything you would hope it would be. By “you”, I mean the Brewers fans because it ended in a Brewers win. 

Marlins starting Sandy Alcantara is the leading candidate for NL Cy Young this year. He was fantastic on this night too. He went all eight innings and gave up just one run on five hits. He walked none and struck out eight batters. With the loss, Alcantara is now 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. 

Corbin Burnes knows a little something about Cy Young Awards. On this night, with the Brewers needing him, he came through and looked like the best pitcher in baseball again. He tossed eight shutout innings and gave up just four hits. He also walked none and struck out seven batters. With the Win, he is now 12-8 with a 2.98 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. In his eight innings, Burnes didn’t allow a runner to reach second base. In six of the innings, he faced three batters. 

As you can see from his WPA (Win Probability Added), Burnes came through when his team needed him the most. That would be the definition of Clutch. 

One is Enough   
There was no score until the bottom of the sixth inning. Garrett Mitchell led off with a single to center field. After one out, Mitchell stole second base. He advanced to third base on a single to left by Willy Adames. Rowdy Tellez came up and drove in the game’s lone run on a sacrifice fly to center.  

The same situation came up in the bottom of the third inning. Jace Peterson singled, stole second and was sacrificed to third base on a nice bunt by Omar Narvaez. Unfortunately, Mitchell struck out and Christian Yelich grounded out to end the threat. Outside of that, Hunter Renfroe had a two-out double in the fourth inning but was left stranded. Then the team failed to add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Mitchell doubled, but did not advance any further. 

One Was Barely Enough…  
Craig Counsell left himself open to second-guessing when he removed Burnes after eight innings and turned to The Airbender, Devin Williams, for the ninth inning. As you know, Williams recorded his 15th Save of the season, but it didn’t come without increasing the heart rates of Brewers fans across and beyond Wisconsin. 

Lewin Diaz led off with a single. He was pinch run for by Peyton Burdick. Jon Berti then walked. Williams responded by striking out Joey Wendle and Bryan De La Cruz. However, he walked Avisail Garcia to load the bases. With the tying run on third base, Williams came through with a strikeout of Jesus Sanchez on a perfect changeup just below the zone to end the game.  

"Just keeping it exciting..." 

What’s Next? 
The Brewers have two more games at home against the Miami Marlins. On Saturday at 6:10, The Crew will send lefty Aaron Ashby (2-10, 4.50 ERA) to the mound against Edward Cabrera (6-4, 3.15 ERA). The teams will finish their series on Sunday afternoon.   

Wild Card Scenarios   
The final two NL Wild Card spots are clearly between three teams, and really, that final spot is likely to come down to the Brewers and the Phillies. But, the Padres have also been very mediocre and left the door open a little bit. 

Remaining Games 
Brewers: 2 at home vs Marlins, 3 at home vs Arizona 
Phillies: 3 at home vs Nationals (DH on Saturday), 3 at Houston 
Padres: 2 at home vs White Sox, 3 at home vs Giants 

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet