MILWAUKEE -- Nick Ahmed reached for a cutter and missed, Corbin Burnes flexed and let out a scream and 20,117 fans rose to recognize the latest display of excellence from the Brewers’ big three of starting pitchers.

Two days after Freddy Peralta got within five outs of a no-hitter, and a day after Brandon Woodruff willed his way through five tough innings on the hottest day of the year, Burnes set a career high with 13 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings of a 2-0 win over the D-backs at American Family Field to complete a four-game series sweep.

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Daniel Robertson and Tyrone Taylor hit solo home runs to continue the Brewers’ power surge, and Burnes teamed with relievers Devin Williams and Brad Boxberger to throw a six-hit shutout on a day Josh Hader was unavailable. Winners of nine of their last 10 games and 12 of 15, the Brewers are back to seven games over .500, matching their high point of the season and ensuring they would wake up Monday morning at least tied for first place in the National League Central.

“The pitching is their ‘carry tool’ and it's helping them get to where they want to get to each and every night,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said.

Burnes was right where he wanted to be on Sunday. 

“This was by far the best I’ve felt all year,” said the 26-year-old right-hander, who scattered four singles, didn’t walk a batter and pitched beyond the sixth inning for the first time since taking a no-hitter into the seventh in his season debut against the Twins. “Body, arm, stuff coming out of the hand. There wasn’t a point that we ever really felt ‘stuck’ today.”

After setting an all-time record earlier this season with 58 strikeouts before he issued his first walk of 2021, Burnes continues to pitch at a level rarely seen: 

• It marked the 14th time in Brewers history that a pitcher struck out 13 batters or more, and the first since Peralta’s magical Major League debut on Mother’s Day in 2018. 

• Burnes now has four games this season with double-digit strikeouts and no walks. That's twice as many such outings as any other Brewers pitcher in a single season in franchise history, and Burnes has done it in his first 10 starts.

• Burnes is only the third pitcher since 1906 to have at least four games of 10-plus strikeouts and no walks within his first 10 appearances of a season. Gerrit Cole has five such games this year. Clayton Kershaw had four in 2016.

• Along the way, Burnes surpassed 90 strikeouts for the year. He got to that number in 56 1/3 innings, matching the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (this season) for the second-fastest since 1893, according to Elias, to that number. Only Cleveland’s Shane Bieber (55 1/3 innings in 2020) got to 90 strikeouts in fewer innings.

When Burnes’ spot in the order came up in the sixth inning with two runners on and two outs, there was no conversation about pulling the plug at 97 pitches, manager Craig Counsell said.

So, Burnes went back out for a scoreless seventh and finished with a season-high 106 pitches.

“There was just an ease of operation to the way he worked today,” Counsell said. “There was no signs of anything slowing down.”

How did the Brewers reverse their May swoon? Better offensive production has been a significant factor; Sunday’s home runs gave Milwaukee 16 home runs in their last five games as summer weather arrived and the baseball started to fly.

“I think I remember talking to you guys maybe the first week of May and you asked the same question, like, ‘What are you guys going through right now with this tough stretch?’” Burnes said. “And I think I basically said, ‘Just hang in there.’ It’s one of those things in baseball -- it’s going to come around. I think the last two weeks have kind of shown that.”

Burnes’ ERA was down to 1.97, tied for fourth-best among Major League qualifiers right behind Woodruff’s 1.42, and four spots ahead of Peralta’s 2.25. By strikeout rate, the trio ranks second (Burnes, 42.2 percent), third (Peralta, 36.9 percent) and ninth (Woodruff, 32.5 percent). By Fangraphs’ version of wins above replacement, they are second (Burnes, 3.1), fifth (Woodruff, 2.6) and 14th (Peralta, 1.8) in baseball.

“I think competition is a good thing,” Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook said. “One guy goes out there and pitches well, and the next guy wants to one-up him. That’s the cool thing about a team.

“These guys take great responsibility. They knew coming in that, ‘Hey, you’re the base of our success.’ And I think they’ve done an extremely good job of just lifting each other up. ‘Hey, I’m going to push you in a good way to be great.’ I think that’s what this group has done.”