Corbin Burnes picked up right from where he left off from his fist start of the 2021 season.
Unfortunately, on Thursday, the Brewers bats did too, again failing a pitcher that has emerged as a dominant mound force in Major League Baseball in the last year.
Burnes surrendered just one hit over six inning s of shutout ball; striking out nine and walking no one. Still, Milwaukee bats only gave him one run of support – the Brewers lone run coming on a play where two errors were committed.
Staked to a 1-0 lead, the Milwaukee bullpen promptly gave up three runs: two of them on a Nolan Arenado home run in the 8th, in the Cardinals 3-1 win on Opening Day at Busch Stadium.
Making matters worse, new second baseman Kolten Wong injured his oblique and could be headed to the injured list.
The two teams will take Friday off before resuming their weekend series on Saturday afternoon.