Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes combined with reliever Josh Hader to pitch baseball’s record ninth no-hitter this season, breaking a mark set when pitchers began throwing overhand in 1884 as the Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians 3-0 on Saturday night.
Burnes struck out 14 with 115 pitches over eight innings, taking a perfect game into the seventh while overpowering the Indians, who were no-hit for the third time in 2021. This time is was by Burnes — who has become a Cy Young contender as the Brewers run away with the NL Central — and Hader, one of the game's top closers.
The right-handed Burnes was in control from the start, striking out 11 of his first 14 hitters and retiring the first 18 in order. After walking Myles Straw to start the seventh, the 26-year-old got through the eighth thanks to a diving catch by center fielder Lorenzo Cain.
The Progressive Field crowd booed as Hader came on in the ninth. He overpowered Oscar Mercado, striking him out to start the inning. Then, first baseman Jace Peterson went into foul territory to making a lunging catch for the second out.
Hader ended the no-hitter by getting Straw to flail at a pitch in the dirt to make history. The Brewers stormed the field to share hugs and high-fives with a signature victory in their runaway season.
Arizona rookie Tyler Gilbert had thrown the majors’ most recent no-hitter on Aug. 14, and the Chicago Cubs threw the only previous combined effort on June 24. The other no-hitters this season were thrown by San Diego’s Joe Musgrove (April 9), Carlos Rodón of the Chicago White Sox (April 14), Cincinnati’s Wade Miley (May 7), Detroit’s Spencer Turnbull (May 18) and the Yankees’ Corey Kluber (May 19).
There also have been a pair of seven-inning no-hitters this season, which don’t officially count in the Major League Baseball record book. Arizona’s Madison Bumgarner did it in the second game of a doubleheader at Atlanta on April 25, and five Tampa Bay pitchers combined to accomplish the feat to close out a doubleheader against Cleveland on July 7.
Most of those gems were thrown before MLB cracked down on the use of sticky foreign substances by pitchers in late June.
