Dunning flirts with a 'Maddux' in stellar outing against Tigers

ARLINGTON -- When asked what he thought about potentially throwing a "Maddux," Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning paused for a second.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” he questioned with a chuckle.

A "Maddux" is a “start in which a pitcher tosses a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches, named after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. The last Rangers pitcher to accomplish the feat was Colby Lewis on Sept. 11, 2015, against the A’s, ironically when current Rangers pitching coach and Maddux’s older brother Mike Maddux was in his first stint with the club.

Whether he knew it or not, in Wednesday’s 10-2 win over the Tigers, Dunning was a couple of pitches and a big stretch from becoming the first Rangers pitcher since Lewis to toss a Maddux.

But pitch No. 98 was a chopping grounder hit by Andy Ibáñez to third baseman Josh Jung. The ball was hit a little too softly, and the throw was a little too late as Ibáñez was rewarded with an infield single. Then pitch No. 100 was sent into the right-field stands by Kerry Carpenter and Dunning’s day was over with two outs in the ninth inning.

It wasn’t a Maddux, nor a complete game, nor a shutout, but it was still a career night for Dunning, who tossed a career high 8 2/3 innings and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. It’s the first time in his big league career that Dunning has gone longer than 7 2/3 innings.

“What a great job, huh?” said manager Bruce Bochy. “He had all four pitches going in all four quadrants. He was in command the whole way, just a foot away from getting the shutout. It's hard to pitch better than that. What a great job he did. It was fun to watch. He's not a guy that tries to power his way through lineups. He's a pitcher and he pitched very, very well.”

After allowing a game-opening single to Zach McKinstry, Dunning proceeded to retire 17 consecutive batters before allowing a two-out double to McKinstry in the sixth inning. He then retired nine consecutive Detroit hitters before the infield single in the ninth inning.

The outing lowered his season ERA to 2.69.

“It was a really fun outing,” Dunning said. “One mistake at the very end, but other than that, I'm extremely happy…. I was able to command pretty much all my pitches. I had a few that got away in certain counts, but fortunately enough, it didn't affect me and I was able to make a pitch when I needed to. I felt really comfortable and in rhythm the whole time. It was just fun.”

A career starter, Dunning opened the season in the Rangers' bullpen, having been pushed out of the rotation after the club’s big spending spree that added three veteran starters in Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. He was an elite reliever for a short period of time (1.77 ERA in 20 1/3 innings) before deGrom landed on the IL and eventually underwent surgery to repair a torn UCL.

“It was vital that we have somebody that could step in the rotation and ease that loss of Jacob,” Bochy said pregame. “I can’t say enough about what he’s done for this staff, starting in the bullpen and then going into rotation for Jacob.”

“He’s had some really, really nice games,” Bochy added postgame. “I can't say enough about what a great job he did in the bullpen early in the season. When we had put him in a rotation when Jacob went down, he's just done a tremendous job. I think overall his work is as good as anybody’s, that’s how good I think he is.”

In all, it’s been a dramatic turnaround for a guy that opened the season with a 4.43 ERA across parts of three big league seasons.

Though Bochy wasn’t the manager during Dunning’s first two years with the organization, he said health is the biggest reason for his success this season. The right-hander underwent hip surgery at the end of the 2022 season that prematurely ended his year with just a few weeks to go.

“It's hard to play in the Major Leagues when you're not 100%,” Bochy said. “He probably was not 100% most of the year last year. This winter, he got that fixed. You can see, he can fire to hips better and it's going to help his command, it's going to help the stuff on all his pitches. He's a different guy."

“I think he's just confident out there,” added catcher Jonah Heim. “He knows himself. He knows what's gonna work and he's healthy. When you put all this together, it's a good combination for success.”