Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes will be back on the mound Saturday. He cannot wait.
Last week, Burnes, missed his first turn through the rotation since a COVID-forced injured list stint while with Milwaukee in 2021.
He will return to face Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Dustin May on Saturday in the third contest of a four-game series between the National League West rivals in Phoenix.
The D-backs could use all the length they can get out of Burnes after using six pitchers in a 14-11 loss to the Dodgers on Friday.
Shohei Ohtani’s three-run homer capped a six-run ninth inning in a game in which the Dodgers led 8-3 before five homers allowed the Diamondbacks to seize an 11-8 advantage.
“Between him and Barry Bonds, the two best players I’ve ever seen,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Ohtani. “I’ve never seen anything like what he (Ohtani) does in the clutch.”
Each team has one victory in this series. The D-backs prevailed on Thursday, 5-3.
Burnes (1-1, 3.58 ERA) missed Monday’s contest because of shoulder inflammation that had bothered him in his previous three outings. He took a cortisone shot May 2, which prevented him from taking his regular turn.
“Did it (stink) I didn’t get to pitch? Yes,” he said about missing the start. “But there is more value to the team in skipping a start and making sure I’m healthy for the rest of the year than continuing to push through it and have something pop up where we miss two or three months. There is always that bigger picture.
“Could I have gone and pitched? Probably. Would I have been at 80-85 percent effectiveness? Probably. And who knows when it would have subsided. This was just the right time to take a step back, take that time, avoid anything from getting more serious and having to miss three months of a season versus one start.”
May (1-2, 4.36) understands the frustration that injuries can bring. May returned to the Dodgers’ rotation this season after missing all of 2024 and parts of the previous three seasons because of Tommy John surgery, a flexor tendon repair and a torn esophagus.
“There are some good things in there,” Roberts said after May’s last outing, a no-decision in which he gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers have faced a length issue most of the season — their starters have thrown 176 innings, the fewest in the majors. Roki Sasaki went four innings before being removed from his start Friday.
“It’s tough,” Roberts said. “They’ve got to put us in position to run them deeper. That’s just the way it goes.”
Burnes is looking for his first home victory. He gave up only seven earned runs in his previous four starts.
Burnes is 2-3 with a 5.40 ERA in eight appearances (six starts) against the Dodgers. Ohtani is 3-for-6 with a homer versus Burnes, including hitting a leadoff homer off him in their lone meeting last season.
May is 1-1 with a 4.42 ERA against the D-backs in five appearances (four starts).
–Field Level Media
