Texas Rangers’ Korean pitcher Dane Dunning filled the gap left by ace Jacob deGrom’s injury.
Dunning hurriedly warmed up in the 4th inning against the New York Yankees at Globe Life Field in Texas, USA on the 29th (hereinafter Korean time) and took the mound. This is because deGrom voluntarily went through with an injury again.
DeGrom,안전놀이터 who came to the mound as the starting pitcher, pitched perfectly until the third inning, then got a walk after one out and a hit after two outs in the fourth inning, leading 5-0, and was on first and second base.
At this time, deGrom showed signs of discomfort in his side, and a trainer and pitching coach visited the mound. Afterwards, coach Bruce Bochy went to the mound to check deGrom’s physical condition and replace him.
When deGrom suddenly suffered an injury, Dunning took the mound. The first batter, Oswal, also blocked the inning without conceding a run with a ground ball to third baseman Peraza. Dunning was hit by a left-handed double by leading batter Oswaldo Cabrera in the fifth inning. After taking two outs with a strikeout and a grounder from second baseman, Kyle Higashioka allowed a run on a timely hit to the left.
He got on the mound in the 6th inning and sent out lead hitter Anthony Rizzo with a ball that hit his body. Then, with a wild throw, he was allowed to advance to second base. With 1 out and 3 base, he gave up the second run to Willie Calhoun on a sacrifice fly by center fielder.
Dunning cleanly blocked the 7th inning with 3 infield grounders, and passed the ball to the bullpen in the 8th inning. Texas won 5-2. Dunning became the winning pitcher, recording 3 hits, 1 strikeout and 2 runs in 3⅓ innings. He hurriedly climbed the mound and performed the long relief mission well.
Dunning had a similar experience against Kansas City on the 18th. At that time, starter deGrom threw only 4 innings and voluntarily gave up due to pain in his right wrist. Dunning took the mound from the 5th inning and won a relief victory with a perfect pitch of 4⅓ innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts and no runs. It is remarkable that Dunning’s two wins this season were all recorded in deGrom’s injury replacement games.
Dunning, a Korean-American, missed the opportunity for the Korean team in the World Baseball Classic due to hip surgery. After last season, the KBO offered Dunning the Korean WBC team, but Dunning declined the KBO offer because he had hip surgery after the season and had to rehabilitate until the spring.
Dunning pitched as a starter at Texas in 2021 and 2022. However, he has a lot of starting numbers this year, so he’s on a long relief assignment. He pitched in 8 games and is performing well with 2 wins and an ERA of 1.77. He is recording 20⅓ innings pitching 3 or more innings in 4 of 8 games.