Big Inning Haunts Diamondbacks in Loss to Brewers

The Diamondbacks dropped the second game of the series to the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1, despite Merrill Kelly taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Unfortunately Arizona ran into a buzzsaw in Corbin Burnes, who blanked the D-backs for eight innings.

Merrill Kelly and Burnes matched zeros for the first six innings. Kelly didn't allow a hit through the first six innings, striking out seven. He took a page of Gallen's playbook, using his curveball and changeup to feast on an over-aggressive Brewers lineup. Both pitches generated six whiffs each and an average exit velocity of 73.6 and 76.5 respectively.

"Merrill was fantastic" said D-backs manager Torey Lovullo. "He was going toe-to-toe with Burnes. Maybe he had a natural letdown, he gave up the solo home run then a couple walks and his pitch count was right in the area where I started to get a little uncomfortable. It was a good game, it was an exciting game, and whoever blinked first was going to get sucker-punched. We ended up being that team, it was a great pitcher's duel for seven-plus innings".

Lovullo knew Kelly had a no-hitter going in this game, but had a strict pitch count of 105. Kelly had thrown 85 pitches to get through six innings. His no-hit bid got broken up by Willy Adames, who entered the game batting 5-for-12 with a home run against Kelly, with a home run off the batter's eye in center field. After walking the next two hitters, his night was over after 98 pitches. In a three-batter span he went from a no-hitter to out of the game. Kelly finished with three runs allowed with four walks and seven strikeouts in six-plus innings. For the D-backs rotation, it marked the third straight quality start after having none in their first nine starts.

Arizona's bullpen, which had been a strength in the team's 7-4 start had an uncharacteristically poor night. Collectively they allowed four runs on seven hits, two going for home runs. Miguel Castro, who has been a fantastic addition to the bullpen so far this season, was tasked with shutting down the heart of the Brewers lineup but was unable to limit the damage. After a single by Garrett Mitchell loaded the bases, Milwaukee scored four more runs on a bases-loaded walk, a groundout to second, and a two-run double into the left field corner. José Ruiz and Carlos Vargas each allowed a solo home run in their respective inning.

The D-backs will face a quick turnaround, as they take on the Brewers tomorrow afternoon at 12:40pm MST. Drey Jameson will make his first start of the season while Milwaukee will counter with Janson Junk, who is making his season debut.