Feel for cutter eludes Burnes as D-backs drop series

WASHINGTON -- Ahead of the D-backs’ 5-4 series-finale loss vs. the Nationals on Sunday, manager Torey Lovullo expressed his full confidence in his ace, Corbin Burnes.

“I'm going to sleep good knowing that Corbin is going to be taking the mound tomorrow,” Lovullo said postgame Saturday. “And I know that he's very determined to go out there and help this team win a series.”

It didn’t end up being exactly the start Lovullo expected, though.

For the third straight game, the D-backs allowed multiple runs in the first inning. Over the three games in D.C., Arizona allowed eight runs in the first frame, putting the D-backs on their heels for most of the weekend series.

Lovullo had been hoping Burnes would help halt that emerging trend before it became too much of a pattern, but instead Burnes ran into trouble of his own. He didn’t have a feel for his cutter, the pitch that leads his arsenal and, when landing, is part of what makes him such a force to be reckoned with.

Against the Nationals, though, Burnes was struggling to get a feel for the pitch.

“I thought the command was a little off early,” Lovullo said postgame. “He was missing spots. I think he was battling some frustration -- I think we all are right now, that's just the nature of the game.”

“It sucks,” Burnes said. “You get the ball to go out and win the series, and you go out and pitch like that -- it's pretty poor. But [I’ve] got to get back to it.”

Burnes used 54 pitches through just two innings, allowing a pair of runs in the first and a run apiece in the second and third. By the end of the fourth inning, Burnes had issued six free bases (four walks and two hit-by-pitches). It was the first time since July 19, 2024, that Burnes had walked at least four in a start, and -- paired with his three-walk start against the Yankees on Tuesday -- the first time since Aug. 5 and 11, 2022, that Burnes allowed a combined seven walks in back-to-back starts.

“We kind of all had the same approach, just be ready for the fastball,” Nats center fielder Dylan Crews said. “He's got a good fastball that cuts, and [we’ve] just got to be ready for it. He's a Cy Young winner for a reason. We’ve just got to be able to hammer the mistakes, and we did a good job of that. That's a good team over there, a great pitcher, and it was our day today."

Eventually, though, Burnes settled in, pitching a scoreless fourth and fifth inning. Through his five innings of work -- two outs deeper than he pitched on Opening Day -- Burnes threw 89 pitches (55 strikes) and allowed four runs on seven hits, four walks, two HBPs and just three strikeouts.

All four of Burnes’ walks, plus his two hit-by-pitches, came on his cutter.

“Corbin righted the ship in those final two innings,” Lovullo said. “I thought he did a really good job of figuring out where that ball was going. and he got some outs and did his job.”

“Yeah, it wasn't fun, that's for sure,” Burnes said. “Just didn't command the baseball, you know, hurt myself. Then we put six guys on with the walks and hit by pitches. It's kind of amazing that we only gave up four. So [I’ve] just got to do a better job of getting in the zone early, attacking the zone. It took until the fifth inning to finally feel comfortable out there and attack the zone and have a quick inning.”

In Burnes’ first start this season, he allowed four runs (only two earned) on four hits (two homers) while utilizing 98 pitches over 4 1/3 innings, walking three but striking out eight. But even in that outing, Burnes wasn’t fully feeling his cutter. Sunday’s misfortunes were an extension of an issue that began halfway through Burnes’ first start.

“Back to the drawing board on that,” Burnes said. “And obviously, when [I'm] not landing that for strikes, starting behind 1-0, 2-0, it's very tough. So [I’m] just going to do a better job of getting ahead. Obviously, a lot of it starts with the cutter. …

“You have stretches like this every year. I went through this last year, went through it in my signing year in ‘21, where it just kind of comes and goes. So the days you don't have it like today, you just got to bear down and try to get through it. … Just got to keep grinding through it. As a starting pitcher, you probably have eight or nine of these games a year, so it's about how you can adjust and make the adjustments -- whether it's going to certain different pitches and just doing what you can to get through it.”