ARLINGTON — Watch out, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Nathan Eovaldi, the Texas Rangers might have a new strikeout artist.
Right-handed starter Dane Dunning allowed just one earned run in 5 and 1/3 innings pitched in the Rangers’ 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. He retired the first 13 batters he faced, struck out seven betters in four innings and finished with 10 on just 69 pitches — the fourth-fewest pitches thrown in a 10-plus strikeout game since pitches were first tracked in 1988.
“Jonah [Heim], behind the plate, is extremely good at just right from the get-go attacking and knowing where to go,” Dunning said. “I thought that we kept them off balance very well today ... it’s just kind of reading swings and reading how they’re taking my pitches and swinging at certain things.”
It’s kind of become his thing. Dunning, the reigning club pitcher of the year, has struck out seven batters or more in four of his first six starts. The 29-year-old, who’s averaged a career-high 10.74 strikeouts-per-nine-innings (seventh-best in the AL), has struck out the fifth-most batters in the AL through six starts. His 39 strikeouts trail only Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (44), Luis Castillo (42), Detroit Tarik Skubal (41) and Chicago’s Garrett Crochet (40). The first three might appear on AL Cy Young watchlists; Crochet, with a fastball that can reach 100 mph, is built for whiffs.
The softer-throwing Dunning — who’s thrived as a groundball specialist — does not exactly profile as a strikeout whizz, though his manager may disagree.
“He’s good when he’s hitting his spots,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He can cover both sides, both ways, elevates when he has to. That works up here, and he gets a lot of chases, because when he’s throwing well, he’s throwing strikes.”
Dunning was pulled in the sixth inning after Luke Maile (double) and Will Benson (single) broke through for Cincinnati’s first run. Right-hander Josh Sborz relieved Dunning and let up a single to Elly De La Cruz; he and Benson both scored on a Corey Seager throwing error to cut the Rangers’ lead to 4-3.
“We had a fresh bullpen, and they were getting another look at [Dunning] and hit a couple of balls hard there,” Bochy said. “I just wanted to change it up there.”
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
