Brewers’ Corbin Burnes nearly faints in Cincinnati heat: ‘Scary in the moment’

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Corbin Burnes threw a gem on Friday, striking out a season-high 13 batters in a 1-0 over the Cincinnati Reds. 

While Burnes had one of his best performances of the year, a scary moment in the fifth inning almost cut his outing short with the game-time temperature at 91 degrees and high humidity, according to the Associated Press. 

After throwing a first-pitch strike to Reds shortstop Matt McLain, Burnes crouched behind the mound as teammates and trainers rushed toward him. 

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“I’m not really sure exactly what happened,” Burnes said after the game. 

“Everything kind of went dizzy, and eyes went cross-eyed,” he continued. “I went to the back of the mound, hopefully blinking a couple of times, and it would go away, and it didn’t. So, I was just kind of dizzy and cross-eyed there for a minute or two, and it finally started to go away. After a bottle of water, just time to give it a second, it went away and didn’t come up the rest of the way. Luckily, it was nothing crazy, and I could go back out there for the sixth. Scary in the moment, for sure.”

Burnes was able to finish up the fifth inning before striking out the side in the sixth. 

“He just got light-headed, essentially,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “The trainers don’t think it was a hydration issue. Just like you lift something heavy and get a little light-headed from that. He just needed a minute to regroup. His vision got a little blurry.”

Milwaukee scored its lone run in the seventh inning off of a single from catcher Victor Caratini.

For Burnes, a three-time All-Star, his two-hit gem moved him to 8-5 on the season with a 3.73 ERA.

“He has great stuff,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He threw more breaking balls. I think that led to a lot of his success tonight. Obviously, he has a good fastball. He used the breaking ball more today, and I think that helped him.”

Milwaukee’s bullpen went the rest of the way without allowing a single baserunner as the Brewers moved to 50-42 on the season. 

The win tied Milwaukee with Cincinnati atop the National League Central. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.