Rookie Dane Dunning earned his first career victory during an 8-1 win for the White Sox over Pittsburgh at PNC Park on Wednesday night.

José Abreu extended his hit streak to a career-high 22 games, leaving the White Sox slugger seven shy of the franchise record, and James McCann launched two home runs and drove in four. Add in a couple of great defensive plays from third baseman Yoán Moncada and left fielder Eloy Jiménez, and clearly there was no hangover from Tuesday night’s loss to the National League Central’s last-place team for the American League Central leaders.

• Box score

“Big game for us,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “Obviously, we needed to bounce back after yesterday. Certainly, Dane set the tone with the way he was able to command the zone and keep them at bay. I thought Dane did a great job. It was nice to see the guys bounce back and score some runs today.”

This White Sox victory, coupled with the Indians’ second consecutive home loss to the Royals and the Twins having the night off, put the South Siders one game up in the division with 17 games remaining. The White Sox are 27-16 overall, including an 18-3 record against the Royals, Tigers and Pirates this season, with three games coming at home this weekend against Detroit.

• Clemente's Day; Keuchel's turn skipped

Dunning has been good in all four of his career starts, but he found that extra gear on Wednesday. The right-hander allowed three hits and one walk over six-plus scoreless innings, striking out three and recording 10 outs via the groundball among his 78 pitches.

Colin Moran doubled off of Dunning to open the seventh, and Gio González came in to relieve Dunning immediately afterward. It wasn't a punitive measure, however: Renteria was focused on getting Dunning up and down seven times with restrictions still being placed upon the 25-year-old who had Tommy John surgery in March 2019.

McCann credited Dunning’s pitchability for his successes Wednesday -- the right-hander was able to command four pitches to both sides of the plate -- as well as his composure.

“It's kind of weird to say, but he's kind of having his rehab outings now,” Renteria said. “He's throwing the ball very well. He's a confident young man, very poised. He's kind of thrust into a pennant race and doing a very nice job. He has stabilized us, and obviously his outings have been solid."

“Honestly, as long as the team wins, I'm happy,” Dunning said. “I was just trying to do my job, get us to the second half of the game, and from there, let our bullpen and everybody else do everything. First one's out of the way, I got a huge congratulations from the guys, and we had a little [beer] shower for me."

Abreu’s personal record came during a four-run fourth, as he hustled down the first-base line to beat out an infield grounder that rolled just beyond the reach of Moran at first. Abreu was initially called out on the play, but the call was overturned after a White Sox challenge. Carlos Lee holds the franchise hit streak record at 28 games in 2004. Abreu’s is the eighth-longest streak and the longest for any White Sox player since Lee.

McCann homered off of JT Brubaker to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the third. He added a sacrifice fly in the fourth and capped his night with a two-run shot in the sixth, all while doing another great job behind the plate of guiding a young hurler.

“[Dunning] is going to be an integral part of our rotation for the next month, and I would assume for the next several years,” McCann said. “He's proven that every time he takes the ball. He's going to give us a chance, and it's been a lot of fun to watch him take the mound."

Following an off-day Thursday, the White Sox play 17 games in 17 days without a break. It’s the playoff push before the actual playoffs, with a nearly flawless effort Wednesday to point them in the right direction and reduce their magic number to 12 to clinch a playoff spot.

“You've seen the maturity from guys like TA [Tim Anderson], and Moncada and Eloy growing up,” McCann said. “Then you mix in some veteran guys and building that culture here, it's been a special thing to be a part of, and it's something I hope continues at this organization for a long time.”