Dodgers Interview: Knack Praises Teamates’ Grit in Comeback Win
“This team is full of dogs.”
LOS ANGELES — Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Mets didn’t go quite as planned for rookie right-hander Landon Knack. After a sharp opening inning, Knack was tagged for three home runs in a rough third frame and exited after just 3.1 innings. But true to the tone of the day, the Dodgers clawed back, and Knack was the first to credit his teammates for finishing what he couldn’t.
“This team is full of dogs,” Knack said postgame. “The bullpen came in and held it right there, and the bats—man, they can always swing it. We’re never out of a game.”
Knack began his outing with a clean first inning, striking out Brandon Nimmo and inducing a pair of flyouts. But things unraveled quickly from there. Pete Alonso took a low heater out to right-center in the second to open the scoring, and in the third, Nimmo and Starling Marte launched back-to-back solo homers to push the Mets’ lead to 3–0. Later that inning, Brett Baty’s sacrifice fly made it 4–0 and brought Knack’s day to a premature end.
“Just getting behind guys,” Knack said when asked what went wrong. “The second two [homers], I got behind in the count and had to come in. They got me. And the Alonso one—I pulled a heater down right into his barrel. That’s where he likes it.”
The outing was Knack’s fifth of the season with the big club, and while he flashed early promise, the command issues were costly. His fastball velocity remained strong, but the young righty acknowledged that mechanical inconsistencies—possibly tied to an offseason weight adjustment—may still be affecting his rhythm.
“It was feeling better today,” he said. “But I think I’ve spent too much time talking about mechanics—‘we’re getting close,’ ‘I’m feeling this’ or ‘feeling that.’ I think it’s just time to stop talking about it and go out there and do it.”
Knack’s frustration was clear, but so was his competitive spirit. Despite the rough outing, he remained locked into the dugout as his team mounted a methodical comeback, culminating in Michael Conforto’s go-ahead RBI single in the eighth.
“When you’re out of the game and you watch the battle that this team has… it’s awesome,” Knack said. “To see them fight all the way back like that—it was inspiring.”
Though Knack didn’t factor into the decision, the Dodgers’ 6–5 win allowed him to leave the stadium with a valuable lesson and the support of a club that believes in his growth. With the pitching staff taxed during a tough stretch of consecutive games, Knack’s ability to learn on the fly—and quickly bounce back—could be critical going forward.
As for his next start? Knack knows what it’ll take.
“Get ahead. Stay aggressive. Trust the stuff,” he said. “No more talking about it. Time to go.”
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