Corbin Burnes faces former Brewers teammates, seeks first D-backs win

Corbin Burnes will take the mound Saturday, still trying to earn his first win since signing a six-year, $210 million free agent deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks last winter.

It will be his home debut in Phoenix and come against the Milwaukee Brewers, with whom he spent the first six seasons of his career, winning the National League Cy Young Award and posting three All-Star seasons.

The Brewers traded Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles before the 2024 season with the right-hander on the cusp of free agency.

He told reporters in Baltimore earlier this week when the Diamondbacks played in the city that Arizona made the most sense for him in free agency. He and his family live in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"I just don't think that we necessarily matched up on the years that it was going to take to kind of get to a dollar amount for me to stay there," Burnes said of Baltimore's offer.

"Now, I can't guarantee I would've gone there had this offer not come around. Just kind of one of those things like the way it was lined up, us living here. If these guys (Diamondbacks) were going to be serious and have a fair offer, then this is where we were going to be. So it's tough to play the what-if game. But yeah, (the Orioles) were definitely interested. But this was by far, I think, the best offer that we had."

On Saturday, Burnes (0-1, 5.79 ERA) is scheduled to go against fellow right-hander Chad Patrick (1-0, 2.45).

The Brewers won the series opener 7-0 on Friday as Jose Quintana and two relievers held the Diamondbacks to four hits. Milwaukee, swept by the New York Yankees in their season-opening four-game series, will be seeking its fourth consecutive series victory.

Quintana signed with the Brewers on March 5. The game Friday was the first appearance of the season for the veteran.

"I've seen that performance a bunch, and that's the first time I've ever been happy about it," Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said of Quintana, who was 9-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 23 career appearances (22 starts) against the Brewers before signing with the team.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo credited Quintana but also said his team did not perform well.

"It was not a good day today," he said. "We got beat in every area."

The manager continued: "I think we came out a little too hungry, trying to do too much damage and not getting into that give and take, cat-and-mouse game with a really good starting pitcher. He knows how to pitch."

Burnes has struggled with his command in his two previous starts.

He took a no-decision in a 7-5 victory against the Yankees on April 1 and was the pitcher of record in a 5-4 loss at the Washington Nationals on Sunday. He has 11 strikeouts and seven walks in 9 1/3 innings, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 1.57, far below his career average of 4.07 and the 6.88 of his Cy Young season in 2021.

That year, he struck out 234 batters and walked 34.

Burnes faced the Brewers once, a 6-4 victory last April 14 with the Orioles when he gave up six hits and three runs (two earned) in five innings. He did not get a decision in Baltimore's 6-4 victory.

Patrick, a rookie, has 10 strikeouts in 11 innings over three appearances and has never faced Arizona. He stepped into the starting rotation because of injuries to Aaron Civale and Nestor Cortes.

--Field Level Media