Debut-iful: Dunning K's 7 in dominant start
Scott Merkin
@scottmerkinCHICAGO -- Dane Dunning’s Major League debut went about as well as could be expected during the White Sox 5-3 win over the Tigers on Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, minus one pitch in the fifth inning.
Dunning missed up with a slider to Jeimer Candelario with two on and one out in the fifth, and Candelario launched a home run just out of the reach of center fielder Adam Engel. It marked the last hitter Dunning faced, and he completed the night with those three earned runs allowed over 4 1/3 innings and seven strikeouts.
Not a bad effort for the 25-year-old, who punctuated his comeback from March 2019 Tommy John surgery and made his first trip to the mound since June 23, 2018, when he left early from a start with Double-A Birmingham due to the initial right ulnar collateral ligament issue. With these 73 pitches behind him, thrown in front of 10 cardboard cutouts in the stands that featured various members of his family, Dunning could admit postgame to being slightly more nervous Tuesday night before his start than during the actual game.
“When I got to the field, it just felt normal, felt right,” Dunning said. “I still had a little bit of nerves, especially when I was throwing my bullpen, and I was trying to take it slow and take it one pitch at a time. But as soon as I set foot on the rubber, threw the first pitch -- unfortunately I gave up the double off the wall -- but all nerves went away right then."
“Really nice debut for Dane,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “I know, he went through the first three innings obviously very flawlessly, worked a little heavier in the fourth. But he seemed to have some tremendous composure, stuff looked really good.”
José Abreu delivered the eventual game-winner in the eighth with a home run down the right-field line off of Gregory Soto. It marked the 184th homer and RBI No. 628 of Abreu's White Sox career. Edwin Encarnación homered twice in the game, but it was Abreu’s 346-foot homer with an expected batting average of .180, per Statcast, that pushed the Chicago to a fourth consecutive win and moving its record to 14-11. Abreu actually thought he hit a routine fly ball upon connection.
The White Sox offense made sure Dunning left with a no-decision, scoring two in the fifth off of Detroit starter Casey Mize, the No. 8 prospect in MLB who also made his big league debut Wednesday. Tim Anderson singled home Zack Collins, whose first hit of the season was a double to open the frame, and Yoán Moncada singled home Anderson.
"[Dunning] obviously had a very good start, and he was pretty efficient, and we were kind of getting back out there pretty quick with each other,” Mize said. “That helps the flow of the game, and that helps us stay in our rhythm. So it was cool.”
Dunning had 17 swinging strikes per Statcast, with six off of his four-seam fastball and seven off of his slider. Dunning was part of the return in a trade that sent outfielder Adam Eaton to the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2016, at the start of the White Sox rebuild. He was the third of the three hurlers from that deal to pitch in the Majors for the South Siders, joining Lucas Giolito, who starts Thursday's afternoon finale for the White Sox, and Reynaldo López.
Dunning is another important piece of Chicago's talented young core, really an abundance of riches for this developing White Sox squad that's aiming for a four-game sweep of Detroit.
“We have a lot of talent that's been coming up through the Minor Leagues, and I've been fortunate to play with them all through the Minor Leagues,” Dunning said. “But seeing them compete out here, it's awesome. I've been able to see them dominate at the lower levels, and now they're dominating at the big league level."
“You see all the talent that we have, and you see those guys and what they are doing,” said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo. “We are an inch closer to being a really, really good and competitive team. It’s a good time for us to do what we are doing right now.”