WASHINGTON (AP) — Corbin Burnes is still searching for command of his cut fastball after two starts on Arizona’s first road trip of the season --- as well as his first victory since signing with the Diamondbacks.
The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner slogged through five innings Sunday, giving up four runs in Arizona’s 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.
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Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes, right, talks with catcher Jose Herrera (11) during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes pauses on the mound during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Burnes (0-1) allowed seven hits and four walks, hit two batters and struck out three.
“It wasn’t fun, that’s for sure,” Burnes said. “Just didn’t command the baseball and hurt myself. I think we put six guys on with the walks and hit by pitches. It’s kind of amazing we only gave up four.”
Arizona signed Burnes to a six-year, $210 million contract in December after he established himself as one of the game’s top pitchers during six seasons with Milwaukee and one with Baltimore. Burnes finished in the top 10 of his league’s Cy Young voting in each of the last five seasons and earned four consecutive All-Star nods before hitting free agency.
He gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings and struck out eight Tuesday against the New York Yankees, and he struggled early Sunday as well. Five of the seven Nationals to bat in the first inning reached safely as Washington pushed across two runs.
“I thought the command was a little off early,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “He was missing spots. I think he was battling some frustration.”
Washington added runs in the second and third before Burnes stranded runners on first and third in the fourth. His best inning was his last. He recorded two outs on his first three pitches in the fifth, allowed Alex Call’s single on an 0-2 slider and then caught Paul DeJong looking on his 89th pitch to end his outing.
Burnes’ ERA rose to 5.79, and he acknowledged he is still getting a feel for his cutter early in the season.
“You have stretches like this every year,” Burnes said. “I went through this last year, went through it in my Cy Young year in ’21 when it just kind of comes and goes. The days you don’t have it, like today, you have to bear down and try to get through it. Unfortunately today, when you put that many guys on, it makes it really tough to pitch deep into games.”
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Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes, right, talks with catcher Jose Herrera (11) during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes pauses on the mound during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Corbin Burnes throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorians are voting Sunday in the country’s presidential election runoff, facing the choice between incumbent President Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa González.
Noboa, a conservative young millionaire, and González have both promised voters solutions to the extortions, killings, kidnappings and other crimes that became part of everyday life as the country emerged from the pandemic. Analysts expect the result in Sunday’s vote to have a very tight margin.
It’s the second presidential runoff election in less than two years in the South American country, where voting is mandatory.
Voters chose Noboa over González in the runoff of a snap election in October 2023. The candidates advanced to Sunday’s contest after polling most votes in February’s first-round election. Noboa won 44.17% of the votes while González garnered 44%.
Voters are primarily worried about the violence that transformed the country, starting in 2021 — a spike in crime tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru.
Both candidates have promised tough-on-crime policies, better equipment for law enforcement and international help to fight drug cartels and local criminal groups.
“My vote is clear,” said Irene Valdez, a retiree who voted for Noboa. “I want to continue living in freedom.”
Martín Constante, a 19-year-old university student, had a different view. “I think Luisa is going to change things, because Noboa has been very authoritarian,” he said. “Our country needs a lot of changes.”
More than 13 million people are eligible to vote, which is mandatory for adults up to the age of 65. It is optional for people aged 16 and 17 and over 65. Failure to vote results in a $46 fine.
In 2023, Noboa and González were largely unknown to most voters as they sought the presidency for the first time. They were first-term lawmakers in May 2023, when then-President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly, shortening his own mandate as a result and triggering that year’s snap election.
Noboa’s first foray into politics was his stint as lawmaker. An heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, Noboa opened an event-organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his father’s Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.
González, 47, held various government jobs during the presidency of Rafael Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with free-spending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as president.
Noboa, 37, declared Ecuador to be in a state of “internal armed conflict” in January 2024, allowing him to deploy thousands of soldiers to the streets to combat gangs and to charge people with terrorism counts for alleged ties to organized crime groups.
Under his watch, the homicide rate dropped from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023, to 38.76 per 100,000 people in 2024. But despite the decrease, the rate remained far higher than the 6.85 homicides per 100,000 people seen in 2019.
Some of Noboa’s heavy-handed crime-fighting tactics have come under scrutiny for testing the limits of laws and norms of governing. He has also been criticized for allegations of electoral anomalies he made after February’s vote.
Following the first-round election, Noboa said there had been “many irregularities” and that in certain provinces “there were things that didn’t add up.” He provided no further details or evidence. Electoral observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union ruled out fraud.
Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.
Voters line up at a polling station during the presidential election runoff in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)
Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate from the Citizen Revolution party, speaks after voting in the presidential election runoff in Canuto, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Ochoa)
A police officer holds his ballot during the presidential election runoff in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)
Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate from the Citizen Revolution party, waves to supporters after voting in the presidential election runoff in Canuto, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Ochoa)
Women line up to vote in the presidential election runoff in Latacunga, Ecuador. Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate from the Citizen Revolution party, greets supporters after voting in the presidential election runoff in Canuto, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Ochoa)
A man votes in the presidential election runoff in Latacunga, Ecuador. Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Incumbent President Daniel Noboa watches as his wife, Lavinia Valbonesi, votes in the presidential election runoff in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Incumbent President Daniel Noboa arrives to accompany his wife, Lavinia Valbonesi, to the polls for the presidential election runoff in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025.(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
A voter stands next to a soldier guarding a polling station during the presidential election runoff in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)
A soldier directs a nun to her polling station during the presidential election runoff in Quito, Ecuador, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)
Navy soldiers and reservists stand in formation before heading out to guard polling stations in preparation for Sunday's presidential runoff election, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Soldiers stand behind fences placed around the Government Palace in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 11, 2025. Ecuadoreans go to the polls on April 13 to elect a new president. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
A campaign poster of Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution party, hangs by a piece of tape on a wall in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, April 11, 2025. Ecuadoreans go to the polls on April 13 to elect a new president. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Supporters of incumbent presidential candidate Daniel Noboa cheer him on during a campaign rally in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)
Posters of incumbent presidential candidate Daniel Noboa cover street poles in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Friday, April 11, 2025. Ecuadoreans go to the polls on April 13 to elect a new president. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
A mural of Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution party, covers a wall in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Thursday, April 10, 2025. Ecuadoreans go to the polls on April 13 to elect a new president. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Army soldiers carry electoral kits at a polling station in preparation for Sunday's presidential runoff election, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
FILES - This combo shows Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate from the Citizen Revolution party, left, and Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, speaking at separate events in Quito, Ecuador on Jan. 19, 2025 and Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, Files)
