Twins’ Jose Berrios, Brewers’ Corbin Burnes flirt with no-hitters during historic pitching duel

Major League Baseball’s 2021 regular season turned three days old Saturday, but Jose Berrios and Corbin Burnes may have recorded the pitching duel of the year as part of the Minnesota Twins’ 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Through six innings the pair had combined for 23 strikeouts, zero hits, zero walks and two hit batters.

Though Berrios was not permitted to begin the seventh inning after throwing 84 pitches across the first six frames, the Twins were able to come within five outs of a combined no-hitter after Taylor Rogers struck out the side in the seventh. Omar Narvaez then singled off Tyler Duffey to end the bid with one out in the eighth.

Nevertheless, Berrios finished his night having punched out 12 of the 19 batters he faced. He amassed 18 whiffs on 36 swings, with nine of those coming against his signature curveball. He even limited the quality of contact the Brewers made to the extent that Milwaukee’s batted balls had an average exit velocity of 78.1 mph; for reference, the worst exit velocity among qualified hitters last season was 82.2 mph. Berrios’ outing was a resounding success, and a welcomed sign after a disappointing 2020 that saw him post his worst ERA and his worst strikeout-to-walk ratio since his rookie season.