By: Sean Fitzgerald

On the 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Cleveland Indians hosted the Milwaukee Brewers for the second game of a three-game set. 

20,100 in attendance saw the Indians become the first team in Major League Baseball history to be no-hit for the third time in a full regular season, coming out on top 3-0 behind the efforts of Corbin Burners and Josh Hader. It was the second no-hitter in the team’s history. 

Burnes finished his night with a sterling eight innings and only one walk, striking out 14 batters He nailed 78 of his season-high 115 pitches for strikes in a fabulous showing. 

Zach Plesac didn’t have the stuff to put away an 87-win Brewers squad, seeing two runs hung on the scoreboard in the first inning and errors by Myles Straw and Bradley Zimmer allowing baserunners to move up and come around to score in those first two frames. 

Corbin Burnes on the other hand was a dynamo. One of two potential NL Cy Young award candidates for the Brew Crew, he easily cruised through the first inning, ending it on a lazy fly by Jose Ramirez to right field. 

As the game progressed, it became evident that if anyone was going to get a hit off Burnes, they’d have to earn it. By the end of the fourth, he was averaging 14.25 pitches per inning and registered nine strikeouts. 

The Tribe looked completely overmatched against Burnes, who reached double-digit whiffs in the fifth, his seventh such game this season. 

Plesac tossed six strong innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits, two walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 52 of 84 pitches for strikes.

Burnes continued his onslaught unabated, with his only mistake coming on a seventh inning walk to leadoff man Myles Straw. 

The closest that Burnes came to losing the no-no came in the bottom of the eighth. Owen Miller hit a hard line drive to the center field gap. Lorenzo Cain closed the gap and slid to make the grab to keep the historic feat together. 

Josh Hader closed out Oscar Mercado, Austin Hedges and Straw. It’s a dubious note for this 2021 squad who’ll try to turn the page tomorrow. 

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Historic bad luck

Zach Plesac has been the starting pitcher the three times the Indians have been no-hit this season. Someone get him a good luck charm immediately!

Mid-game scratch

After hitting in the top of the second inning, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez was pulled from the game with right knee discomfort. 

Eduardo Escobar shifted over from the hot corner to first base and Pablo Reyes took Tellez’s spot in the lineup and played at third. 

Wanted: Lineup thumpers who can score runs

Throughout the year, the Cleveland Indians have been generally better than their competition when scoring four runs or more in a game, going 58-18 with at least four runs. 

They’re otherwise a dismal 11-52 with three or fewer runs scored entering tonight’s game. 

J-Ram all-time team hits update

In recent weeks, Jose Ramirez has moved into 39th place on the Cleveland Indians all-time hits list, entering Saturday’s contest with 962. He’s got a slim chance of climbing to 38th this year past former outfielder Joe Vosmik, who has 1,003 hits. 

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Sean Fitzgerald is a Kent State graduate and the press box correspondent for Mark One Sports and CLE TribeCast. Follow him on Twitter @fitzonsportsbsr.