It was a win-or-go-home game for the Comets, and they live to fight another day after dominating the Aviators in Game 2 of the Championship Series in a 7-2 victory.
Player of the Day
While Zach Ehrhard and James Tibbs III led the way with the bat, it was Landon Knack’s outstanding work as a starter that allowed the Comets to open a five-run lead before the Aviators could think about entering the game. Doing a complete 180 from the previous game’s pitching struggles, Landon Knack didn’t walk anyone and struck out eight
in 6.1 one-run innings.
For anyone closely monitoring Knack’s September stats, this was hardly a surprising development, considering he had come into the game with 11.2 scoreless innings this month, 7.2 of them in Triple-A with the Comets.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
The middle-infield combo of Noah Miller and Hyeseong Kim reached in front of Zach Ehrhard in the third inning, and the Comets’ leadoff hitter drove them both in to give his team a lead they would maintain until the end.
Between the third and fifth innings, the Comets scored six of their eventual seven runs, all unanswered, capped by a James Tibbs III three-run bomb, doing what he has done basically the whole year.
The Comets showed discipline to put the ball in play, ending the game with only five strikeouts, under half the total of the Aviators’ lineup. Ryan Fitzgerald, the veteran who was the only Comet to strike out multiple times, got on the scoreboard with a solo shot in the eighth.
Not only dominant, but Knack also found a way to be extremely efficient and could’ve easily gone further than the 6.1 innings he covered, getting the hook when he was at just 81 pitches. Recently demoted flamethrower Seth Halvorsen contributed a scoreless frame with a walk and two strikeouts. The Aviators’ second and final run came against Paul Gervase in the ninth inning.
Transactions
The Comets placed outfielder Chris Newell and pitcher Jackson Ferris on the Development List. The Dodgers optioned pitcher Kyle Hurt and outfielder Josue De Paula to the Comets. Lastly, they activated Emmet Sheehan as well.
Wednesday’s scores
- Las Vegas 2, Oklahoma City 7
Thursday’s schedule
- 7:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Cole Irvin) at Las Vegas (TBD)
