Corbin Burnes Worked Through Poor Umpiring to Record a Quality Start

The Arizona Diamondbacks' star right-hander had to overcome some bad calls but hung in the game long enough and kept it close enough for his offense to engineer a comeback victory

Apr 12, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Corbin Burnes wasn't about to sugarcoat it. Despite the joy of his team coming back from a 4-0 deficit in the ninth, he was clearly still a bit salty about the second inning. The star pitcher threw Quality Start, going six innings and allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

But several missed calls from home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez, balls that were clearly in the strike zone according to MLB Gameday and broadcast graphics, ended up costing Burnes a couple of runs in the second inning.

Following a leadoff base hit from William Contreras, Sal Frelick drew a walk, in which the first and sixth pitches of the at bat were clearly on the black. An RBI single from Rhys Hoskins followed, and Frelick later scored on a ground ball double play.

Later in the game there was another at-bat to Frelick in which Marquez missed calls, and Burnes could be seen barking a bit.

"You've costed me 2 already"

Corbin Burnes barking at home plate umpire Alfonzo Marquez after getting squeezed multiple times so far tonight

At the end of the inning, Burnes walked off of the mound staring Marquez down and shaking his head pic.twitter.com/Lqgzd1IEIk

— Dalton Feely (@dfeely14) April 13, 2025

"Rough inning there in the second, kind of felt like I was going against both the other team and the umpire there for a little while," Burnes said.

Later, towards the end of the interview session, Burnes was straightforward about his feelings once again.

"At times it's tough, especially when it costs you two runs in that inning. There's three or four calls, in that inning had they gone the other way we get out of that with nothing, which is tough."

Burnes didn't necessarily feel that the missed calls were equitable either. "It seemed pretty frustrating on our end more than their end throughout the night," the star pitcher said. He was not wrong about, as evidenced by the "Umpire Scorecard" website's tracking. Overall favor to the Brewers was worth +0.32 runs, and the ball four call to Frelick was the most impactful of any.

Umpire: Alfonso Márquez
Final: Brewers 4, D-backs 5#ThisIsMyCrew // #Dbacks#MILvsAZ // #AZvsMIL

More stats for this ump 👇https://t.co/QnXYVOQ7z3 pic.twitter.com/JyKaZiwH0I

— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) April 13, 2025

Despite dealing with the frustrations from the umpire, Burnes settled in to throw zeroes in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. He got touched for one more run in his sixth and final inning on a long home run from Jackson Chourio that sailed 448 feet into the left field bleachers. It was a slider down and in, but not down and in enough, a pitch that Burnes classified as a mistake.

This was Burnes' third and best start so far for the D-backs. It was "definitely a step in the right direction and something good to build off of."

Coming into the game, Burnes had thrown 9.1 innings and allowed eight runs on 11 hits and seven walks. Limiting walks was priority number one for the right-hander, which he was able to do, despite the missed calls by Marquez. Burnes lowered his ERA to 5.28 for the season.

The Brewers were Burnes' first team and the organization he won a Cy Young with prior to a trade to the Baltimore Orioles for the 2024 season. He signed a six-year, $210 million contract with the Diamondbacks during the offseason.

Burnes insists there was nothing special about facing his former team in terms of emotion or preparation. "For me, there's nothing special throwing against anyone. I just go out and do my job and prepare as if I'm starting against any of the other 29 teams."

Making his first home start in front of a crowd of near 35,000, Burnes didn't think the fans actually showed out for him. "They showed out tonight. I don't know if it was for me or the Geno [Suárez] bobblehead, but yeah, we had a good crowd tonight, so it was good to come back and get one."

One interesting side note to the game was Brewers starter Chad Patrick also wore the same number 39 as Burnes, and did so because of his respect and admiration for Burnes.

"I had heard that from the equipment manager, Jason Shawger over there. He called me before it happened. I'll go there and I'll give him a hard time tomorrow. But that's cool, the fact that I can have that impact on guys that are getting the big leagues now. I think he said he grew up watching me, so now I'm starting to feel old." Burnes joked.

Burnes' next outing is likely to come on Friday, April 18, against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. That ballpark has not exactly been the "Friendly Confines" for Burnes in recent history. He made two starts there in 2023 and one in 2022, coming away with a 0-2 record and allowing eight runs in 17 innings.

Veterans Dansby Swanson and Justin Turner have very good numbers against Burnes, as do Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, it could be a challenging day against MLB's top-scoring offense, who are averaging 6.6 runs per game. But if Burnes finds his form, he can shut down any lineup at any time.

With a good start in the books, the Diamondbacks will hope that Burnes is now able to settle in and be the ace they signed for the next six years.

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