Brewers' Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader Combine for No-Hitter vs. Cleveland

The ninth no-hitter of the 2021 MLB season belongs to Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes and star reliever Josh Hader. For the third time this season, it was Cleveland watching its opponent celebrate the feat.

Burnes was lights-out with 14 strikeouts and one walk over eight innings in a 3-0 victory at Progressive Field. Hader came on to finish the job in the ninth inning, needing just nine pitches to earn the save. Even with the Brewers gearing up for the postseason, Burnes still tossed 115 pitches as he mowed down the Cleveland lineup.

It's the second no-hitter in Brewers history, joining Juan Nieves' effort against the Baltimore Orioles in 1987. It's also the 16th combined no-hitter in MLB history and the second one this season.

Nine no-hitters in one season stands as an all-time MLB record. Joe Musgrove, Carlos Rodon, John Means, Wade Miley, Spencer Turnbull, Corey Kluber and Tyler Gilbert previously recorded no-hitters this year while Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel of the Chicago Cubs combined to toss a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers in late June.

Burnes did the majority of his damage with a cutter-curveball combination that had Cleveland completely mystified. Of the 56 cutters thrown, 22 of them went for called strikes of whiffs, according to Baseball Savant. Only four of the cutters were put in play.

The curveball was even more effective, getting 18 combined called strikes and whiffs on 34 pitches with only two balls in play.

Burnes went to his fastball just once in eight innings, deferring to his changeup, slider and sinker when he needed to switch things up.

Hader, meanwhile, was all gas, using a fastball-slider combo that averaged 93.1 miles per hour.

Both pitchers benefited from some extraordinary defense late with Lorenzo Cain making a diving grab in the eighth inning before Jace Peterson landed in the seats to snag a pop-up into foul territory.

It's certainly a low point for Cleveland, which had already punted on the season by dealing infielder Cesar Hernandez within the division to the Chicago White Sox and remains two games under .500 on the year.

The franchise that has tossed 14 no-hitters itself has now been the victim of 12 no-nos against.