Excerpted from Shawn McFarland at the Dallas Morning News

 ARLINGTON, TX - In a season filled with strong starts, Rangers starter Dane Dunning delivered one of his best on Monday vs. Tampa Bay. The 28-year-old right-hander pitched seven innings, gave up two earned runs on five hits and finished his outing with four-straight scoreless frames in a July 17 3-2 win for the Rangers in Arlington.

“Today was the first time I actually looked at [the pitching matchup],” said Dunning, 28, and a Clay High School graduate in Green Cove Springs, FL. “I knew it was going to be a tough one, a fun one going in. I’m just trying to enjoy the moment.”

The Rays scored once in the top of the first on a Randy Arozarena sacrifice fly and again in the second on a solo home run from Josh Lowe. Arozarena is one of Texas right fielder Adolis Garcia’s closest friends; Lowe is the brother of Rangers first baseman Nathaniel. The Texas tandem holds the temporary bragging rights, thanks in part to Dunning.

“He’s just done a terrific job,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said in an interview with mlb.com. “He’s pitched like someone at the front end of a rotation. That’s how good he’s been.”

Dunning, currently 8-2 with a 2.82 earned runs against average and 63 strikeouts, according to baseball-reference.com, stranded five Rays baserunners on base in the second-through-fifth innings, then finished his outing with a 1-2-3 sixth and seventh. He lasted one inning longer than McClanahan and gave way to Jose Leclerc and Aroldis Chapman, who retired the side in the eighth and ninth innings respectively. Chapman struck out the side in the ninth and threw two sinkers that registered at 102.8 miles per hour, the fastest recorded pitch by a Ranger in the StatCast era (2015).

Dunning's best outing was a 10-strikeout effort in eight innings against Detroit on June 28.

Oakleaf's Arias signs to Red Sox minors

Excerpted from bloggingtheredsox.com

The Red Sox have signed free agent left-hander Skylar Arias to a minor-league contract for the 2023 season, per the club’s transactions log. Arias has been assigned to Double-A Portland Sea Dogs.

As of July 22, 2023, Arias, activated on June 3, 2023, is on the injured 7-day list at Portland.

Arias, 25, was originally selected by Cleveland in the 24th round of the 2016 amateur draft out of Tallahassee Community College. The Florida native spent parts of seven seasons in the Guardians organization before being released last June.

Shortly after being cut loose by the Guardians, Arias signed a minors pact with the White Sox. The 6-foot-3, 204-pound southpaw pitched across three different levels in 2022, though 24 of his 26 relief appearances were for Chicago’s High-A affiliate in Winston-Salem, N.C. He posted a 3.91 ERA and 3.88 FIP with 37 strikeouts to 17 walks over 23 innings of work for the Dash before becoming a free agent again in November.

His career stats include 15 wins, six losses, a 3.74 ERA with 216.2 innings pitched in 153 game appearances with 293 strikeouts in his career.

Among the 238 pitchers who accrued at least 20 innings in the South Atlantic League last year, Arias ranked 11th in strikeouts per nine innings (14.48), 20th in strikeout rate (35.6 percent), and 18th in batting average against (.171), per FanGraphs. He also walked more than 16 percent of the batters he faced.

Arias, who turns 26 in June, has some experience above the High-A level. He made one appearance for Double-A Birmingham last August, allowing three runs (two earned) in a third of an inning. In 2021, the lefty forged a 6.92 ERA and 5.01 FIP with 53 strikeouts to 35 walks across 36 outings spanning 40 1/3 frames of relief for Double-A Akron.