Brewers: Burnes Outduels deGrom In Cy Young Showdown, But Bullpen Blows Lead

The duel of the season. Jacob deGrom and the Mets against Corbin Burnes and the Brewers. These two pitchers are All-Stars and NL Cy Young candidates. This pitching matchup was appointment viewing.

It lived up to the billing.

Despite both pitchers allowing runs in the first inning; a leadoff home run by Luis Urias off deGrom and then a double followed by a bloop single from Francisco Lindor off Burnes, this turned into quite the duel.

Both deGrom and Burnes settled in after the first inning, matching each other pitch for pitch over the next few innings.

Then in the 5th inning, of all people, Jace Peterson got a pitch over the middle of the plate from deGrom and hit a rocket out to centerfield for a home run to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.

Corbin Burnes was able to outduel Jacob deGrom in a battle of Cy Young contenders.

Burnes finished with a line of 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, and 8 Ks. He didn’t have all of his best stuff working throughout his start, but he got it done with his off-speed pitches.

Jacob deGrom had a solid start himself, going all seven innings, allowing just four hits, but two runs, no walks, and 10 Ks. He was on cruise control, only pitching out of the stretch for two batters all game. But he did allow a couple of home runs.

Run support has been hard to come by for deGrom for most of his career with the Mets. He knew it would be harder to come by with Burnes going for the Crew.

Burnes also doesn’t get much run support, but he got enough of it on Wednesday, and that’s the important part.

Although Burnes didn’t go as deep into the game, as the Mets had some traffic on the bases in the 6th inning, he still ended up outdueling the two-time Cy Young winner. This type of duel could help vault Burnes’ own Cy Young chances, although deGrom’s season stats are still superior to Burnes at the moment.

The Brewers were able to get deGrom’s season ERA up to 1.09 on the season, the first time it’s been over 1.00 in a while. Meanwhile, Burnes’ ERA dropped down to 2.36 as he heads into the All Star break.

However, the bullpen cost the Brewers the game as they fell short against the Mets.

Neither of these pitchers took a decision however, as Josh Hader blew his first save opportunity of the season, allowing a home run to Jose Peraza in the 7th inning to tie the game.

It went into extra innings where the Brewers choked away another lead. Christian Yelich was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to take a 3-2 lead. Brent Suter hit a batter, then allowed a walk, and then gave up the walk off single.

It’s a disappointing way for a mostly well-pitched game to end.