'Hounds' Dunshee puts up eight zeros

Parker Dunshee had all the answers Sunday.
Oakland's No. 18 prospect allowed two hits and struck out eight over eight scoreless innings in Double-A Midland's 4-1 victory over Northwest Arkansas at Security Bank Ballpark.

After a one-out single by second-ranked Royals prospectKhalil Lee in the fourth inning, Dunshee retired 12 batters in a row before hitting Xavier Fernández with one out in the eighth. Kort Peterson singled to put runners on the corners, but the right-hander struck out Travis Jones for the third time in as many at-bats to end the threat.
Dunshee (2-2) extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings. In his last start Monday against Tulsa, the Wake Forest product gave up four hits and fanned six over seven frames. He lowered his ERA to 1.74, which ranks third in the Texas League behind Arkansas' Ricardo Sánchez (0.84) and Midland's Brian Howard (1.73).
"I feel pretty confident right now in all my pitches. I'm attacking the zone well," Dunshee said. "My first three starts of the year, I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be."
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The 2017 seventh-round pick allowed seven runs on 16 hits and seven walks over 16 innings in three appearances to start the season. Dunshee focused on his mechanics in an attempt to improve his performance.
"I just tried to work in between starts on staying on line more and driving pitches into the zone and not spinning off," he said. "It has translated pretty well over the past couple of starts."
A reliable heater in the arsenal has been helpful in his outing since.
"My fastball command during these past two outings has been as good as it has been all year," Dunshee said. "That's something that is really big for me and I'm looking to keep that going into the next couple of outings."
As far as keeping the momentum going, the 24-year-old is keeping his goals simple.

"Just hopefully keep throwing up zeros [on the scoreboard]," Dunshee said.
Right-hander Kyle Finnegan allowed one run on two hits with two strikeouts in the final frame.
Collin Theroux led Midland's offense with a two-run homer. A's No. 11 prospect Greg Deichmann collected two hits, an RBI and a run, while 29th-ranked Jonah Heim added an RBI double.
Royals No. 18 prospect Emmanuel Rivera singled home the Naturals' only run in the ninth.