It was well-known that Dane Dunning's fifth major league start would be his stiffest test. Facing the Minnesota Twins offense would be like hiking up a mountain compared to the stroll he had against the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Yet, for a pitcher who hadn't appeared in a game since 2018, Dunning's early success is highly remarkable. No matter the result, the White Sox would learn more about Dunning's staying power in the majors.
Throwing 102 pitches, Dunning completed seven innings of work and only allowed two runs as the White Sox beat the Twins, 6-2, thereby increasing their AL Central lead to three games with 12 to go.
The White Sox took the first lead against Twins pitcher Randy Dobnak thanks to three singles from Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, and Eloy Jimenez. Anderson and Abreu made Dobnak work by making him throw seven pitches before allowing a hit to both. With runners on the corners, the Twins shifted to pull position against Jimenez.
Jimenez drove the first sinker he saw from Dobnak through the infield's right side, beating the shift. That was his 22nd two-out RBI of the season, which leads the majors.
There was a chance for the White Sox to extend their lead in the second inning. Adam Engel showed that Luis Robert is not the only 70-grade runner on the team by beating out a grounder hit to second base. The next pitch from Dobnak hit Nick Madrigal right in the back. With one out, it appeared the Sox were in business with Anderson and Moncada approaching. Instead, Anderson flew out on the first pitch, and Moncada whiffed on a 3-2 sinker ending the threat.
Leading off the third inning, Byron Buxton made the Sox pay for not capitalizing. After he had an inside-the-park home run taken away from him last night, Buxton hit a long drive to center field, which Luis Robert was tracking well but mistimed his jump. Both the ball and Robert bounced off the wall. Buxton turned on the jets rounding the bases and slid headfirst safely into home, tying the game.
While Robert couldn't come up with the highlight catch, he did provide a big hit. The Sox retook the lead when James McCann hit an RBI double with his trademark swing splitting the right-centerfield gap. That was a scoring opportunity because after Grandal walked, Abreu hit another hard grounder, but this time Jorge Polanco was able to field it. However, his throw sailed wide of second base into right field, allowing Grandal to advance to third base.
Next was Robert. Struggling mightily in September at the plate (4-for-39), Robert was quickly down 0-2 in the count. After watching a slider out of the zone and fouling off a sinker, Robert squared up on Dobnak's low sinker through the infield for a two-RBI single putting the Sox up 4-1.
Buxton continued to be the Twins one-person offense in the fifth inning. After hitting a single, Buxton advanced to second and third base thanks to McCann having difficulty gloving Dunning's pitches. Thanks to defensive miscues, Buxton gained anywhere from four to six extra bases halfway through the game. Ryan Jeffers drove in Buxton with an RBI groundout to second base and cut the Sox lead in half.
But every time Buxton scored, the White Sox quickly responded. Facing old friend Tyler Clippard, Anderson flexed his power by muscling out an inside changeup for his 8th home run.
Entering the seventh inning, Dunning entered uncharted waters despite smooth sailing against one of the American League's better offenses. Outside of Buxton, only Nelson Cruz could muster a hit against Dunning which was a harmless single. At times, Dunning was much like Dylan Cease was last night by consistently falling behind hitters. Unlike Cease, Dunning avoided a high walk total and was able to battle back in at-bats to rack up seven strikeouts.
With a three-run lead, Rick Renteria decided to test his rookie. It started by striking out Miguel Sano a second time on a slider away. Next was Travis Blankenhorn, who fell behind quickly 0-2, but Dunning's high fastball clipped the elbow guard. With Buxton on deck, it seemed like a good time for Renteria to pull Dunning and applaud him for his excellent start.
Instead, Renteria kept Dunning out there to face Buxton for the third time. On an 0-1 sinker, Buxton drove a flyball to deep right field only to die on the warning track with Engel under it for the second out. The inning and Dunning's night ended when his sinker was called for strike three against Ryan Jeffers. The pitch was low with McCann attempting to frame it back in the zone, and home plate umpire Will Little punched out Jeffers. That prompted Twins manager Roco Baldelli and Cruz to argue with Little, and both were thrown out of the game.
McCann decided to provide more fireworks by blasting a solo shot in the bottom half, adding an exclamation point on the night. Jace Fry made his return off the Injured List a successful one by striking out four, and Matt Foster wrapped up the last two outs.
Game Notes
- The season series with the Twins is now tied 4-4
- Dunning’s final line: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. His season ERA is now 2.33.
- Tim Anderson went 3-for-5 and his batting average is now .377.
- Jose Abreu also had three hits
- Rick Renteria may need to keep McCann in the lineup as his season OPS is now .984
- Luis Robert stole two bases after his two-RBI single. The second steal of third base proved that he’s human.
