PHOENIX, Apr. 11 \u2014 Corbin Burnes<\/a><\/strong> scattered three hits over eight scoreless innings while his Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> broke a scoreless tie with a five-run seventh en route to a 7\u20131 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> Tuesday night.<\/p>\n Burnes and Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly<\/a><\/strong> traded zeroes for the first six innings, although Burnes did so far more efficiently. Kelly took 18 pitches to get through the first despite only allowing one baserunner. Burnes responded with a 10-pitch 1\u20132\u20133 bottom of the first. Kelly took 16 pitches in a 1\u20132\u20133 second. Burnes took nine to do the same.<\/p>\n A similar pattern held throughout the first six innings. At the end of six, the Brewers had no hits and the Diamondbacks had one. This hit was a leadoff single to center in the bottom of the third by catcher Gabriel Moreno<\/a><\/strong>, who was erased by a subsequent double-play groundout by center fielder Alek Thomas<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Shortstop Willy Adames<\/a><\/strong> led off the seventh for the Brewers, breaking up the no-hitter and the shutout with a tall home run to dead center. This seemed to give Kelly what manager Torey Lovullo<\/a><\/strong> called a \u201cnatural letdown,\u201d as he walked the next two hitters, first baseman Rowdy Tellez<\/a><\/strong> and right fielder Brian Anderson<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n This ended Kelly\u2019s day, with Lovullo bringing in Miguel Castro<\/a><\/strong>. Castro came into the game having allowed only two baserunners in 3 2\/3 scoreless innings, both via the walk. That ended here, as center fielder Garrett Mitchell<\/a><\/strong> welcomed him with a single to right, loading the bases for catcher Victor Caratini<\/a><\/strong>. His bases-loaded walk plated Tellez and made the score 2\u20130. A foul fly and run-scoring ground ball from second baseman Brice Turang<\/a><\/strong> and left fielder Joey Wiemer<\/a><\/strong> made the score 3\u20130, and put runners on second and third with two outs for third baseman Mike Brosseau<\/a><\/strong>. His double to the left-field corner ran the Brewers\u2019 lead to five and chased Castro from the game. Lefty Kyle Nelson<\/a><\/strong> retired designated hitter Christian Yelich<\/a><\/strong>, the ninth hitter of the inning.<\/p>\n Home runs by Tellez in the eighth off newly acquired Jose Ruiz<\/a><\/strong> and by Brosseau in the ninth off Carlos Vargas<\/a><\/strong> gave the Brewers a 7\u20130 advantage. The Diamondbacks scored a consolation run in the bottom of the ninth off Joel Payamps<\/a><\/strong> thanks to a walk by third baseman Josh Rojas<\/a><\/strong>, a fielder\u2019s choice force out that allowed second baseman Ketel Marte<\/a><\/strong> to reach, and a single to right by first baseman Pavin Smith<\/a><\/strong>. The single plated Marte, who advanced to second on defensive indifference.<\/p>\n Lovullo was blunt after the game and ready to prepare for the next one. \u201cI don\u2019t have a lot to say other than their starting pitcher was really good,\u201d he shrugged. \u201c(The team just has) to turn the page and spit it out. We play good baseball. I expect this team to do that. They\u2019ve been very resilient, adaptable to any environment, and they’re gonna come out and give a great effort tomorrow. So that’s the focus that I have right now.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes you run into this type of buzzsaw. There were some little things that we could have done a little better, but we don’t have to get into those. I\u2019ve already cycled through this one and am moving on.\u201d<\/p>\n Lovullo added that Kelly was \u201cfantastic, going toe to toe with Burnes.\u201d He concluded, \u201cIt was a good game, a really exciting game. Whoever blinked first getting sucker-punched, and we ended up being that team. But it was a good game, great pitchers\u2019 duel for seven-plus innings. Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t come out on the right side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lovullo said Kelly was not going to throw 125 pitches to try to get a no-hitter. The absolute cap at this point of the season was 105. \u201cWith everything we\u2019ve been through,\u201d Lovullo explained, \u201closing a starting pitcher already \u2014 that was not anything I was interested in.\u201d Lovullo made it clear, however, that there were no thoughts of pulling Kelly going into the fateful seventh. \u201c79 or 80 pitches after six, I felt like he was in total control of the game,\u201d Lovullo said. He added that the walks after the home run were \u201ca natural letdown,\u201d as mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n Kelly was much better Tuesday than he had been in his first two starts of the season. Lovullo said Kelly was \u201cgetting some swing-and-miss with the breaking ball\u201d and also with a change-up. \u201cBut the secondary stuff was landing,\u201d Lovullo said. In addition, he said, the velocity on Kelly\u2019s fastball was \u201ctrending upward.\u201d<\/p>\n Payamps allowed a run, only the third relief appearance all season where a Brewer did so. They now have 30 scoreless outings out of 33 relief appearances \u2014 an NL-best 90.9%. This is by far the best in the NL, over 10 percentage points ahead of the runner-up New York Mets<\/a>. \u2026 Diamondbacks relievers, by comparison, are 11th in the NL. They have 22 scoreless outings out of 38 relief appearances \u2014 57.9%. The NL average in recent years has always been in the very high 60s, and 2023 is no exception. Up to the end of play April 10, and including this game, the league average is 68.1%.<\/p>\n Brewers relievers Peter Strzelecki<\/a><\/strong>, Gus Varland<\/a><\/strong>, Matt Bush<\/a><\/strong>, Devin Williams<\/a><\/strong>, Hoby Milner<\/a><\/strong>, and Bryse Wilson<\/a><\/strong> all have yet to give up a run in 2023. \u2026 With Castro giving up two runs Tuesday, the only remaining Diamondbacks reliever who has yet to give up a run is Andrew Chafin<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Diamondbacks (7\u20135) and Brewers (8\u20133) finish their three-game series Wednesday afternoon. Diamondbacks rookie Drey Jameson<\/a><\/strong> (2\u20130, 2.16 ERA) will make his first start of the season, facing Brewers righty Janson Junk<\/a><\/strong> (first 2023 appearance). First pitch will be at 12:40 pm Arizona Time.<\/p>\nBrewers Break Up No-no, Open Large Lead over Diamondbacks<\/h3>\n
Postgame Reflections<\/h3>\n
More on Kelly<\/h4>\n
Quick Hits<\/h3>\n
Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n
Main Photo:<\/h4>\n