Dunning delivers for White Sox in first major-league start

It's safe to say Dane Dunning has earned another look as a starting pitcher for the White Sox.

More likely, many more looks.

"We're excited," manager Rick Renteria said. "He looked good."

Making his major-league debut Wednesday night against the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox were expecting the best but wondering how rusty Dunning might be.

After all, the 25-year-old righty was taking the mound for the first time in over two years. That was a start for Class AA Birmingham on June 23, 2018.

Feeling elbow pain in the outing, Dunning was shut down for the remainder of the year with the hope that rest and recovery would prevent surgery.

It did not.

Dunning had a Tommy John procedure in March of 2019 and missed the entire season.

Still a promising pitching prospect, Dunning had his contract purchased from the White Sox's training facility in Schaumburg and he was mostly sharp over 4⅓ innings in a 5-3 win over Detroit.

Matched up against the Tigers' Casey Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft also making his first major-league start, Dunning gave up all 3 of his runs on the final pitch he threw.

It was a 3-run homer by Jeimer Candelario with one out in the fifth inning, a pitch Dunning regrets.

"I was trying to get a groundball and left a slider up," Dunning said. "He got a barrel on it."

Dunning missed just about all of the Tigers' bats early, striking out six through his first three innings.

When it was over, Dunning was happy, but he had a determination to do better the next time. That's quite a change from this time a year ago, when he was recovering from a major surgery.

"It was definitely a setback," the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder said of Tommy John. "It's not good for your morale and I was down in the dumps, but I worked really hard to get here. I probably had more nerves yesterday than today. When I got to the field, I felt normal. It felt right."

The game was tied at 3 when Dunning departed, but the Sox got solo home runs from Jose Abreu and Edwin Encarnacion in the eighth inning and won their fourth straight.

Riding a 1-for-20 slump coming in, Encarnacion also went deep leading off the second inning. He now has 37 multiple HR games in his career.

"I've been working hard every day," Encarnacion said. I know I've been struggling a little bit in the beginning but I don't worry about that. I know what I've got."