It’s been an incredible year for MLB no-hitters, and it became a historic one Saturday night. The Milwaukee Brewers’ 3-0 road win against the Cleveland Indians saw the ninth no-hitter this season, a record. The previous MLB record of eight no-hitters in a year came back in 1884.
Saturday’s no-hitter saw starter Corbin Burnes pitch the first eight innings, striking out 14 batters on 115 pitches while issuing just one walk (in the seventh), while closer Josh Hader came in and got the final three outs with two strikeouts and a popout. That was just the second no-hitter in Brewers’ history, with the previous one thrown by Juan Nieves in 2012. Here’s how the team celebrated at the end:
.@Burnes16 (8ip, 1bb, 14k) and Josh Hader (1ip, 2k) have combined to throw the second no-hitter in franchise history.
Juan Nieves threw the first on 4/15/87 at Baltimore.#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/8YrOw3a6wh
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 12, 2021
And here are some of the pitches Burnes threw along the way:
Corbin Burnes, Back Door Cutter (home plate view).
It's the prettiest pitch in baseball. pic.twitter.com/FPn0YShtmd
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 11, 2021
Corbin Burnes is a baaaad man.
11Ks thru 5. 😯 pic.twitter.com/S6MKdG1tol
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 11, 2021
Corbin Burnes. 14th K. pic.twitter.com/lAYQICO1bj
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 12, 2021
Burnes has had a great season, including throwing six no-hit innings against the Minnesota Twins in April and tying a MLB record with 10 consecutive strikeouts against the Chicago Cubs in August. So this wasn’t out of the blue for him. But his performance Saturday also came with remarkable defensive plays, including this catch from Lorenzo Cain:
And we're on to the 9th. 🤫
Thanks to Lorenzo Cain pic.twitter.com/6oHfnkd6BY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 12, 2021
This also marked the third time the Indians were no-hit this year. They previously gave up no-hitters to Carlos Rodón of the Chicago White Sox on April 14 and Wade Miley of the Cincinnati Reds on May 7.
[ESPN, MLB.com, @PitchingNinja on Twitter; photo from David Richard/USA Today Sports]