All-Star starter Burnes has no complaints about reasons for chaos, but he’s ready for normal again
AP Baseball Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corbin Burnes is ready to get back into a more normal routine, though the Baltimore right-hander has no complaints about why things have been so chaotic for him in the last few weeks.
Burnes allowed one run and two hits over six innings when the AL East-leading Orioles came out of the All-Star break with a 9-1 win over the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers on Friday night.
Since his last game for the Orioles on July 10, the right-hander had gone home to Arizona twice to spend time with his newborn twin daughters. There was also a one-day trip to Texas in between to start the All-Star Game.
“Yeah, it’s been a lot. You know, it’s kind of one of those sacrifices I knew I was going to make when the family was going to spend the year there,” Burnes said. “Fortunately, everything’s been going well. So you’re not going to complain about having to fly to go see the family. But definitely looking forward to kind of having a normal week.”
Burnes (10-4) was back on the same mound where he started the All-Star Game three nights earlier. He struck out six, but also had a season-high four walks while throwing 60 of 101 pitches for strikes.
“It felt like a normal start … once I get going in my routine pregame, to be able to kind of switch and lock in a little bit,” he said.
The only run he gave up was on Nathaniel Lowe’s home run to straightway center in the second inning — after the Orioles had already hit a pair of two-run homers.
“Yeah, definitely not a normal in-between starts routine for him,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “He goes home, not normal rest, pitches in the All-Star Game, throws an inning. Then two days off and then back out in the big league game and didn’t look like he missed a beat. He was fantastic tonight.”
An All-Star for the fourth time, Burnes first went home before flying to Texas the morning of that game. He went back to Arizona after throwing a scoreless first inning, then rejoined his teammates for the resumption of the regular season against the Rangers.
The 29-year-old Burnes has a 2.38 ERA in his first year with Baltimore, after being traded from Milwaukee in February. He can become a free agent after the season, but for now is the ace for the Orioles (59-38) as they try to make playoffs for the second year in a row.
Burnes has completed at least six innings in 15 consecutive starts. That is a career high and the longest streak for an Orioles pitcher since Sidney Ponson’s 16 in a row 20 years ago.
“He’s a top-of-the-rotation guy and one of the best in the league. He’s pitched like it so far this year,” Hyde said before the game when asked what he’s learned about Burnes. “Yeah, full package. It’s been great for the rest of our pitching staff to get six, seven innings almost every time out.”
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