Historically sharp Burnes hits rough patch

MILWAUKEE -- Corbin Burnes’ command has been historically sharp this season but it eluded him for the first time Tuesday. And Burnes paid a heavy price.

The Brewers' right-hander issued more walks in his first five-plus innings against the Padres -- three -- than he’d allowed in his first seven starts this season -- two -- and he hit a batter to boot. All four of those free baserunners came around to score as San Diego ran away with a 7-1 win over Milwaukee at American Family Field.

When they were done running, the Padres stole six bases in all, including a steal of home. That’s one shy of the single-game record for a Brewers opponent, and a total that’s been reached only once against Milwaukee this millennium.

"As far as around baseball, the running game is definitely down. So to come across a team like this that can really run and steal some bags, it's something we don't normally come across,” said Burnes, whose ERA rose to 2.33 after allowing four earned runs in six innings. “Then again, if I don't walk them or hit them, they're not going to be swiping bags."

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It began like most nights for Burnes, who set an all-time record this season with 58 strikeouts before issuing his first walk. He took a 1.79 ERA to the mound Tuesday and had produced at least nine strikeouts in all seven of his starts, two shy of Pedro Martinez’s record for the most nine-plus strikeout games to begin a season. Burnes went six-up, six-down to begin the game; it appeared that he was off to the races.

Then he ran into trouble in the third, walking Victor Caratini on four pitches to start the inning and hitting No. 8 hitter Ha-Seong Kim with an 0-2 pitch. There were runners at the corners with two outs when the Padres stole a run with a play straight out of Little League.

Kim broke for second and Brewers catcher Omar Narváez bit. When he threw down, Caratini, the Padres’ catcher, stole home and beat an off-target throw from Brewers shortstop Willy Adames. Everybody was safe and the Padres had a 1-0 lead. It became 2-0 when Jurickson Profar singled to right field for the Padres’ first hit off Burnes.

“I still think if we complete the play, there’s an out there,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Willy’s throw was a little bit on the wrong side of the base. Otherwise, I think he’s out. They made a really aggressive play and it paid off.”

“You're facing an ace,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said, “and at some point, you've got to roll the dice. That's what our guys did. Being able to take 90 feet -- with Burnes on the mound, you're not banking on 10, 12, 14 hits. When you're able to get on, [you need] to be able to do some things, create some opportunities. I thought the baserunning was one of the separators in the game.”

Profar’s hit would prove to be one of only two hits off Burnes over six innings of a strange outing. He was charged with four earned runs, matching his season high, and he threw his first wild pitch of the year. That was in the sixth, when Burnes walked the first two batters of the inning and fell into a 4-0 hole when both came around to score. Once again, there was a stolen base mixed in.

The Padres lead the Majors with 56 steals, an incredible 21 more than the Royals, who rank second.

Does San Diego’s running game impact how a pitcher pitches?

“It's something that we talk about, like, 'Hey, these guys might run a little bit in these certain counts,’” Burnes said. “It's something that I try not to focus on. If you're worried about the runner too much over there, you start losing stuff mechanically and start making some errors over the plate. So first and foremost for me is going out and executing, and then the running game -- for me -- comes second. Tonight, they were able to expose that a little bit. Like I said, if I don't give them free passes, they're not going to score.”

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The Brewers’ only score was courtesy of Travis Shaw’s home run in the seventh to make it a 6-1 game. After a series of encouraging offensive performances, Joe Musgrove and three Padres relievers held Milwaukee to two hits.

“They're a good team,” Burnes said. “I gave them four baserunners and they all scored. That's part of being a good team, capitalizing on some errors. They were able to do that tonight.

“I wish I could go out there every single inning and throw the ball where I wanted every time. It would make this game really easy. But that's how baseball goes. We're going to come across these outings and we'll just have to take the good from it and move on.”