Rocky 1st a learning experience for Dunning

ARLINGTON -- The first five Angels hitters on Wednesday night combined for three hits, one walk and a flyout against starting pitcher Dane Dunning in the Rangers' 4-3 series finale loss at Globe Life Field.

Texas' young starter seemed out of whack with the Angels drilling the ball all over the field, but after a mound visit from pitching coach Doug Mathis, Dunning locked in to pitch four scoreless innings after getting out of the first. Dunning said that Mathis came to the mound to calm him down, and didn’t give him any mechanical adjustments in that moment.

“Sometimes it's a minor mechanical adjustment, sometimes it's just more of a mental adjustment to get back in the strike zone,” said manager Chris Woodward. “He did a good job getting back in there.

“Those are things you're gonna have to go through as a Major League pitcher, especially if you don't have it right in the beginning. To not give in and to still go out there and throw five innings says a lot about his maturity level.”

Both Dunning and Woodward agreed the right-hander was spinning off on his pitches in the first inning, causing him to lack command, miss spots and fail to locate his breaking ball.

Dunning said he was happy Mathis didn’t didn’t say anything about his mechanics during the mound visit. Instead, Mathis brought it to his attention in the dugout after he got out of the first.

“I was getting very pull happy with all my pitches, just leaning off a little too early,” Dunning said. “It's caused me to push balls and pull balls constantly, and I wasn't overall locating well. After that first inning, I was able to reevaluate it a little bit and figure out what I was doing.”

Despite the outcome, Dunning said he felt this start was encouraging in the long run, and he is hopeful he can make the necessary adjustments sooner next time.

Woodward echoed that sentiment, saying that the good thing about Dunning's outing was how he didn’t give in. But the lesson learned is that he needs to “right the ship” sooner next time.

“I think Doug's a perfectionist sometimes, so he'd like to see him make the adjustment sooner, but it's a good bounceback,” Woodward said. “With [Dunning] today, he settled down and figured it out after that, so it's a good moment for him as far as a younger pitcher being able to see that four spot and go out and still get four scoreless to keep us in the game.”

Despite the early hole, the Rangers' offense chipped away at the Angels’ four-run lead immediately. Nate Lowe delivered an RBI single in the first inning, while RBIs from Jonah Heim (groundout) and Willie Calhoun (single) in the second made it a one-run game, but Texas couldn’t muster any more to tie the game or take the lead.

The Angels went scoreless after the first two innings as the Rangers' relief combination of Kolby Allard and Josh Sborz gave up just one hit in four innings. Neither team scored after the second.

“That's the game that we got to find a way to win,” Woodward said. “And that's what I keep talking about with our guys if we want to be a contender. We had plenty of opportunities with seven innings to score runs, and I felt like we had the momentum, especially after that second inning. We’ve got to find a way to win.”