By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Sep 11, 2021 at 8:41 PM Photography: Twitter/MLB

It took two pitchers, but the Brewers finally have the franchise's second ever no-hitter as Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader teamed up to completely blank the Indians, 3-0, on Saturday night in Cleveland.

The combined no-hitter is Milwaukee's first since April 15, 1987, when Juan Nieves threw the franchise's one and (until now) only no-no on the road against the Baltimore Orioles, 7-0. The most recent no-hitter threat for the Crew came back in June when Freddy Peralta took a no-no into the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but lost the historic moment with five outs left to go.

Though he didn't get to finish it off, it was a well-earned no-no for Corbin Burnes, who was dominant all game long against Cleveland, striking out 14 batters and just a lone walk – sacrificed in the seventh inning – keeping him away from perfection. Unfortunately, Burnes pitch count reached a career-high 115, so manager Craig Counsell made the tough decision to pull his starter after eight innings – though not as tough as it could've been since he got to hand the ball over to fire-throwing closer Josh Hader, who struck out the final batter (with catcher Omar Narvaez throwing down to first to lock in the out) to close out the historic result. 

Much like Yelich's duo of cycles back in 2018, it's a signature attention-getting moment for Burnes, who's one of the several front runners for the National League Cy Young award with a 2.38 ERA (third in the NL) and 210 strikeouts (tied for fourth in the NL). 

While the no-hitter marks a rare sight for the Brewers, it's been a fairly regular achievement across baseball this season – on a historic level. Milwaukee's no-no on Saturday night marked the ninth across the league this season, the most in a single year in MLB history. It's also been an unfortunately regular experience for Cleveland fans this season too, as Saturday's complete blanking is the team's third on the year. And that's not even the most unfortunate part for the Indians, as each of the team's three no-hitters came with the same Cleveland starting pitcher on the mound: Zach Plesac. Someone get this poor man some run support. 

Most important of all, the Brewers won, bringing their magic number – the amount of either Milwaukee wins or Reds losses needed to clinch the division – down to just eight. (If Cincinnati loses on Saturday, the number drops even lower to seven; as of writing, they're tied with the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-4.) 

We'll get to clinching the division later, though. For now, just savor a great historic moment in an already historic year for Milwaukee sports fans – and stay tuned to OnMilwaukee for updates on hopefully more to come. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.