Burns to face Dodgers with Reds' eyes on innings and pitch count
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CINCINNATI — For the first time this season, Chase Burns will make a start for the Reds where he doesn't have free reign to go as deep in the game as usual. On Monday, Burns will open a series vs. the Dodgers as the club begins its latest West Coast road trip.
Burns, 23, is 15-3 with a 2.79 ERA and 171 strikeouts over 26 starts and 145 1/3 innings that are well above the 109 1/3 innings he worked in the Majors and Minors last year in his first professional season.
It will have been a full week off for Burns, who last started on Aug. 30 against the Cubs on Sunday Night Baseball. During a 7-5 Reds victory, he pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up three runs (two earned) with six hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.
The club has decided that all of Burns’ remaining starts will be curtailed at some point, and that he will be piggybacked by left-handed starter Brandon Williamson. How many innings or pitches Burns is permitted to get against the Dodgers has not been revealed. Williamson returned from the 60-day injured list (left shoulder fatigue) on Wednesday and pitched 5 1/3 innings for a 7-3 win over the Padres.
Against the Cubs, Burns opened with a Pete Crow-Armstrong leadoff home run and endured some early trouble while throwing 42 of his 100 pitches over the first two innings. But as he threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of 25 batters, he settled in and delivered some big outs from there while holding batters with runners in scoring position to 1-for-9.
Burns last started against Los Angeles on July 28, 2025 and took the loss in a 5-2 Dodgers win. He allowed three runs, six hits and one walk while striking out 10 over 5 2/3 innings.
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At Dodger Stadium in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series, Burns also faced the Dodgers as a reliever and delivered 1 2/3 scoreless innings.