Nathan Dettmer’s trouble arrived without an out, and it arrived loudly. Two walks opened the fifth inning Wednesday night, putting the Las Vegas reliever in a corner before James Tibbs III sent a high fly ball carrying over the wall in center.
The three-run homer stretched Oklahoma City’s lead to six, breaking open a game the Aviators lost 7-2 at Las Vegas Ballpark. The Comets evened the best-of-three PCL Championship Series and forced a deciding Game 3.
Dettmer had entered to record the final out of the fourth after starter Ryan Magdic allowed Hyeseong Kim’s RBI double. He returned for the fifth and walked Zach Ehrhard and Josue De Paula in succession before Tibbs connected. Mike Sirota and Alek Thomas added singles, ending Dettmer’s night after three earned runs and two walks in one-third of an inning.
Wander Suero kept the damage there. He inherited two runners with nobody out and retired all six batters he faced, striking out two across two scoreless innings. By then, however, Las Vegas was chasing a 6-0 deficit against a pitcher who gave it little room to recover.
Landon Knack held the Aviators to one run over 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight without issuing a walk. Las Vegas finished with six hits, and the bottom third of its order offered little resistance: Cole Conn, Luke Mann and Colby Halter combined for eight strikeouts in 11 hitless at-bats.
The quiet night stood in sharp contrast to the series opener, a reminder of what team president Don Logan had said before Game 2.
“That’s why baseball is great. It’s never the same one day or the next.”
— Don Logan, Aviators Team President
Oklahoma City began building its lead in the third. Noah Miller doubled, Kim singled and Ehrhard drove a ball into center field, beyond the converging outfielders and to the wall. Miller and Kim scored as Ehrhard reached second standing, giving the Comets a 2-0 advantage.
Kim made it 3-0 with a fly-ball double to right in the fourth, scoring Thomas and ending Magdic’s start after 3 2/3 innings. Magdic was charged with three earned runs in the loss.
Las Vegas had one early opening when Joey Meneses doubled with two outs in the fourth, but Knack struck out Johnathan Rodríguez to strand him. The Aviators finally broke through in the sixth after Darell Hernaiz singled. Brayan Buelvas lined a ball over Miller and toward the left-field gap, bringing Hernaiz home as his helmet came off rounding third.
That RBI double ended the shutout, but Meneses flew out to close the inning. Rodríguez opened the seventh with another double and reached third with two outs, only for Jack Winkler to fly out.
The Comets restored their six-run margin in the eighth when Ryan Fitzgerald drove Jake Garland’s pitch well beyond the right-field wall. The solo homer accounted for the only run Garland allowed in two innings and gave Oklahoma City its 7-1 lead.
Meneses supplied the final swing for Las Vegas, launching a leadoff homer to center against Paul Gervase in the ninth. He finished 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and one RBI, the only Aviator with multiple hits.
Oklahoma City collected 12 hits to Las Vegas’ six, with neither club committing an error. The Aviators’ season now comes down to one game, a position that tests the quality Logan identified in this roster before the series was even tied.
“This team finds a way.”
— Don Logan, Aviators Team President