Chase Burns fanned eight batters through seven innings of work during the Cincinnati Reds' 1-0 shutout victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday.
Chase Burns made a statement on Friday during the Cincinnati Reds' opener against the Miami Marlins, striking out eight batters and only giving up four hits across seven innings of action to earn his 14th win on the season.
The 23-year-old ace was effective from the get-go at inducing weak contact as he got Jakob Marsee to line out to begin the first inning and eventually forced Otto López to ground out into an inning-ending double play.
However, Burns' bounce-back outing would come following a minor adjustment to his signature pitch, the slider, after it cost him and the Reds last Saturday against the Washington Nationals when he surrendered six hits and five earned runs through 5.1 innings of work as the team took an 8-2 loss.
"I think a lot of people are just laying off the slider," Burns said, according to MLB.com. "I think the biggest thing is just throwing it for strikes a little bit more. Also, throwing the fastball down. I think it tunnels really well, ... and I think I did a good job today."
He added: "Just fill up the zone. Not trying to be too perfect. Just line it up, try to let them put it in play. Yeah, I'm not a big up and down guy. I'm kind of a just 'throw it down the middle and let it eat.' Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I think it's been working so far."
Burns turned to the four-seam fastball to freeze up Griffin Conine in the second while forcing Heriberto Hernández out at second base and generating another groundout from Owen Caissie. The third was about the same when he forced back-to-back flyouts from Joe Mack and Graham Pauley and got Marsee down swinging on a 99-mph four-seamer.
Despite Burns' grit on the mound, Cincinnati's offense struggled to back him up against 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcántara until the sixth when Eugenio Suárez drove in Tyler Stephenson for the Reds' lone run of the matchup with an RBI double.
Alcántara finished the night having surrendered four walks, three hits and a single earned run through seven innings.
Meanwhile, Burns would pass the torch to Brock Burke after the seventh who struck out the side in the eighth while closer Emilio Pagán sealed Miami's fate in the ninth, inducing another Marsee groundout as well as flyouts from Xavier Edwards and López.
With the win, Burns has compiled a 2.47 ERA and 1.09 WHIP while notching 151 strikeouts on the season. Furthermore, he's pitched through a career-high of 131 innings, a noticeable increase from the 109 ⅓ he tossed in 2025.
Burns has also garnered praise from manager Terry Francona who noted the starting right-hander's resiliency and ability to go deep into games.
"If you're not trying to beat him, it's a fun game to watch because we had two really good pitchers going against each other," Francona said. "He got enough early-count outs, and that allowed him to go deep into the game. He ended at [93 pitches]. He was good. He was very good, and he had to be."
Burns should have another opportunity to shine on the mound next week during the Reds' series against the NL Central rival St. Louis Cardinals.
In the meantime, Cincinnati will have their sights set on securing the series win over Miami tonight at 6:40 p.m. EDT as right-hander Brady Singer toes the rubber versus the Marlins' Ryan Gusto.
