Milwaukee Brewers starter Corbin Burnes broke an MLB record Thursday night against the St. Louis Cardinals by reaching 58 strikeouts without issuing a walk to start a season. Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen set the previous mark with 51 strikeouts before his first walk in 2017.
Burnes entered the start needing three strikeouts to overtake Jansen. His record-breaking 52nd punch out without a walk came in the top of the second when Harrison Bader went down swinging.
Burnes extended his MLB record to 58 strikeouts by getting a pair of whiffs to start the fifth inning. With two outs in the frame, he issued his first free pass of the season to Tommy Edman on a 3-1 count.
It was one of the few times all season a batter reached a three-ball count against Burnes. Over his five previous outings, only 23 of his 434 pitches were thrown in three-ball counts.
Burnes nonetheless got out the inning unscathed and finished his night with nine strikeouts in five innings of work. He allowed the one walk and one run on five hits, but was tabbed with his third loss of the season, as the Brewers fell 2-0 to the Cardinals.
Burnes is in the midst of a career season and has emerged as an early National League Cy Young Award candidate. Over six starts this season, he’s 2-3 with a minuscule 1.57 ERA, 0.45 FIP and 0.64 WHIP in 34.1 innings pitched.
Burnes sets additional MLB record
In addition to becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to record 58 strikeouts without a walk to start a season, Burnes set the new mark for most strikeouts without a walk in any stretch of a season.
Burnes surpassed New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who recorded his 56th strikeout without a walk on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Cole is still in the midst of his streak and will have an opportunity to leapfrog Burnes in his next start.
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