From the Locker Room: Dane Dunning's first win

As long as the team wins his start, the credit doesn't much matter to him

After four major league starts — all of them ending in White Sox wins — Dane Dunning finally got his first major league victory, in Chicago's 8-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

"Honestly, as long as the team wins, I’m happy," Dunning said after the game, downplaying the milestone. "I'm just trying to do my job, get us to the second half of the game and let the guys and bullpen take over."

However, Dunning did acknowledge that his teammates felt there was something special about his outing: "I got a huge congratulations from the guys, and a huge [beer] shower for me."

With both manager Ricky Renteria and catcher James McCann citing Dunning's composure during their postgame sessions, I asked Dane about that. What does composure mean to him, anyway?

"I take every game kind of the same," Dunning said, again shrugging off any pomp and circumstance. "I’ve played the same game for my entire life. Nothing's changed, except the competition has gotten a little better. I just try to attack the zone and get outs for the team."

It's almost assured that Dunning will get a copy of the lineup card, possibly even signed by his teammates. Right after the game and before talking to us, Dane hadn't had the chance to call his parents or anyone else to celebrate the win, but there was one memento the hurler already had in his pocket. You might have seen Steve Cishek hustle off the mound during postgame congratulations to retrieve the ball, which otherwise didn't seem all that special. Well, that ball was given to Dunning: "I got the game ball for the last out."

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Dane Dunning video courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.