Seven pitchers carried Oklahoma City through a night that never belonged to any one arm. Cole Irvin opened it, Jerming Rosario steadied the middle, four more relievers ferried a shutout into the eighth and Paul Gervase closed the door, the Comets’ relay holding Las Vegas to four hits in a 5-2 victory Thursday at Las Vegas Ballpark.
The changing names on the mound never changed the shape of the game. Oklahoma City held the Aviators scoreless through seven innings while building a three-run lead, surviving traffic when necessary and keeping Las Vegas from assembling a sustained rally.
Irvin set the tone with a perfect first inning and worked around a walk in the second. After Davis Diaz singled with one out in the third, Rosario entered and retired Cole Conn and Darell Hernaiz to end the inning. Rosario allowed one more single but nothing else across 1 2/3 scoreless innings, earning the win with one strikeout and no walks.
The Comets supplied their pitching staff an early margin. Alek Thomas lined a single to center in the second, and Ryan Fitzgerald drove him home with a sharp double to right for a 1-0 lead.
Oklahoma City’s most productive early stretch came against Matt Sauer in the third. Zach Ehrhard doubled to right, Josue De Paula singled and James Tibbs III walked to load the bases. Mike Sirota sent a ground-ball single into left to score Ehrhard, and Thomas followed with a sacrifice fly that brought De Paula home.
That was enough for the procession of Comets relievers, although the advantage did not always feel as comfortable as the scoreboard suggested.
Christian Romero retired all three batters he faced in the fifth before walking Conn and Hernaiz to begin the sixth. Kyle Hurt inherited both runners and worked through the heart of the Las Vegas order. Hurt struck out Brayan Buelvas and Joey Meneses, walked Bryan Lavastida to fill the bases, then induced Johnathan Rodríguez to ground out.
Bobby Miller issued a leadoff walk in the seventh, but Las Vegas again came away empty. The Aviators had produced only two hits through seven innings, and neither had gone for extra bases.
The Comets gave themselves needed room in the eighth. After two quick outs, Hyeseong Kim reached on an infield single. Ehrhard lined his second double of the night into left to score Kim, and De Paula followed immediately with a fly-ball double to center that brought Ehrhard around for a 5-0 lead.
Ehrhard finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Fitzgerald also had two hits, including his run-scoring double, while Thomas went 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run. Sirota reached base four times, going 1-for-2 with three walks, an RBI and a stolen base.
Las Vegas finally broke through against Seth Halvorsen in the bottom of the eighth. Hernaiz opened the inning with a sharp triple to center, and Buelvas followed with a two-run homer over the center-field wall. The swing ended the shutout bid and cut Oklahoma City’s lead to three, but Halvorsen retired the next three batters to keep the inning from growing.
Gervase made sure the late jolt went no further. He retired Devin Taylor on a popup, struck out pinch hitter Jared Dickey and handled Luke Mann’s grounder to finish a scoreless ninth and earn his first save.
Oklahoma City collected 11 hits and committed one error, but the defining number was seven: one pitcher after another, each handing a lead to the next until Gervase carried it across the finish line.