OKC Comet Game Notes - April 3, 2026
PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Comet Game Notes - April 3, 2026

Published on April 3, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Comets (3-3) vs. Las Vegas Aviators (5-1)

Game #7 of 150/First Half #7 of 75/Road #4 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Ryder Ryan (0-0, 15.00) vs. LV-RHP Kade Morris (0-0, 0.00)

Friday, April 3, 2026 | Las Vegas Ballpark | Las Vegas, Nev. | 9:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Sports Live

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Comets will try to even their road series against the Las Vegas Aviators at 9:05 p.m. CT at Las Vegas Ballpark. Las Vegas took a 2-1 lead in the series with a win last night and the Comets have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Last Game: Joey Meneses hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning, capping a 4-2 comeback victory for the Las Vegas Aviators over the Oklahoma City Comets Thursday night at Las Vegas Ballpark. The Comets led, 2-0, entering the bottom of the eighth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Colby Thomas was initially called out on strikes, but the call was overturned on a successful ABS challenge. On the very next pitch, Thomas laced game-tying, two-run single to even the score at 2-2. Following a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth inning, Meneses ended the game with a home run to right field. The Comets took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Ryan Ward and James Tibbs III connected for back-to-back homers. OKC starting pitcher Cole Irvin tossed six scoreless innings, helping to protect the lead.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryder Ryan (0-0) makes his second start with OKC after signing with the Dodgers Jan. 28 as a minor league free agent...Ryan made his first start of the season March 28 against Albuquerque in OKC, allowing six runs (five earned) and nine hits over 3.0 innings with one walk and did not record a strikeout. He set a career high in hits and tied his career high in runs. All five runs scored on a pair of home runs by Charlie Condon...After beginning the season in the rotation for the first time in his career, tonight marks the first time in his career he will have made consecutive starts. Entering the 2026 season, only six of Ryan's 346 career appearances have been starts...He spent last season with Triple-A Indianapolis (PIT), going 8-1 with a 4.73 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and .222 BAA in 42 appearances (three starts), setting a new career high in both wins and starts...The righty has MLB experience with Seattle (2023) and Pittsburgh (2024-25). He made his MLB debut with the Mariners Aug. 11, 2023 vs. Baltimore and previously pitched in the PCL for Round Rock (TEX, 2021-22) and Tacoma (2023).

Against the Aviators: 2026: 1-2 2025: 8-4 All-time: 79-79 At LV: 47-41

Las Vegas won the 2025 PCL Championship, winning the league's first half title before sweeping second-half champion Tacoma, 2-0, in the PCL Championship Series, marking the franchise's first league title since 1988...The Comets won the 2025 season series against the Aviators, 8-4, including a 6-3 mark in Las Vegas...Ryan Ward paced OKC with 22 hits and 21 RBI along with seven homers in 12 games against Las Vegas last season...The Aviators led the Minors in runs (978), hits (1,519) and AVG (.288) last season...The Comets have won three straight season series against Las Vegas, and going back to the 2023 season, OKC is 19-8 over the last 27 games at Las Vegas Ballpark. This is the first time OKC has lost two consecutive games in Las Vegas during that stretch. The last time that happened was in September 2021 during the famed Triple-A Final Stretch.

Late Night Drama: Last night the Comets sustained their first walk-off loss of the season after enduring 12 such losses last year, accounting for 40 percent of their total road losses. The team's 12 walk-off losses in 2025 were their most in a season since at least 2013 and OKC had a total of 11 walk-off losses over the 2024 and 2023 seasons combined...Three of OKC's walk-off losses last season came via home run, including one also in Las Vegas...OKC fell to 0-1 in games tied after eight innings after the team went 4-11 in those games last season, including 1-6 on the road. The Comets also sustained their first loss when leading after seven innings - something that occurred a staggering 13 times last season...OKC now has two blown saves this year after accumulating 41 blown saves in 2025 - the most blown saves by any team at any level of the Minors during the MLBAM stat-tracking era (since 2005).

Dinger Details: Ryan Ward and James Tibbs III collected the Comets' first back-to-back home runs of the season in the third inning Thursday night. Oklahoma City tallied nine back-to-back homers during the 2025 season, and Ward was part of six of those occurrences, including most recently with Alex Freeland Sept. 18 at Tacoma...The walk-off home run by the Aviators last night was the seventh homer allowed by the Comets through the first three games of the current series. Oklahoma City's nine total homers allowed to start the season are the most in the PCL after the Comets allowed two homers over a three-game home series against Albuquerque...Oklahoma City allowed a league-low 144 homers in 150 games during the 2025 season.

The Third Degree: James Tibbs III homered for the fourth time in the last four games last night and is tied with Tacoma's Patrick Wisdom for the Triple-A lead to start the season with four home runs. Tibbs has recorded a hit in all six games this season, going 13-for-26 (.500) with nine extra-base hits and 10 RBI...He paces the league with nine extra-base hits, 31 total bases and 11 runs scored. His 13 hits are tied with teammate Ryan Fitzgerald for the most hits in the PCL.

Fitz Blitz: Ryan Fitzgerald opened Thursday's game with a single to extend his hitting streak to five games. During the stretch, Fitzgerald is 13-for-24 (.542) with 12 RBI...Fitzgerald leads the PCL with 12 RBI and is tied with James Tibbs III for the most hits in the league to start the season (13)...He has eight hits over the first three games of the current series.

Re-Ward-ed: Ryan Ward went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double Thursday. He clubbed his first homer of the season yesterday and the team's Bricktown-era career home run leader now has 91 homers in an Oklahoma City uniform...The reigning PCL MVP now has back-to-back multi-hit games - his first of 2026 - going 4-for-8 following a 1-for-15 start over the first four games...In 2025, Ward led the Minors with 36 home runs, 122 RBI, 73 extra-base hits and 315 total bases in 143 games. He became the second OKC player to win MVP in the last two years (Michael Busch, 2023) and the third to win the award during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) joining Nelson Cruz (2008)...The outfielder collected the most RBI for any PCL hitter since 2010...Ward set OKC single-season Bricktown-era records with 164 hits, 122 RBI and 113 runs scored.

Offensive Line: Last night snapped a stretch of four consecutive games in which the Comets' offense recorded at least 11 hits. Oklahoma City was held to six hits Thursday, but four of those hits went for extra bases, including two home runs...Oklahoma City's 70 hits to start the season are the most in Triple-A through six games. OKC's .324 AVG is also best among all Triple-A teams to open 2026 and the Comets' 23 extra-base hits are most in the PCL...Oklahoma City was held to two runs yesterday and the team's 47 runs to start the season are second-most among Triple-A teams behind Las Vegas' 54.

High Road: The Comets are 1-2 to start 2026 on the road after finishing with the best road record in the PCL last season at 45-30. The last time OKC had a losing record on the road was following the team's loss in the 2025 season opener in Sugar Land when OKC fell to 0-1. The Comets followed up that loss with five consecutive road wins and the 2025 season marked the fifth straight that OKC finished with a winning road record and third straight with at least 40 wins in away games. Only one other season during the Bricktown era (since 1998) had OKC recorded at least 45 road wins in a season, going 48-27 in 2023.

Around the Horn: Comets starting pitcher Cole Irvin held Las Vegas scoreless over six innings last night and completed the longest start of the season by an OKC pitcher. Irvin scattered four singles, with one walk and one strikeout. He kept Las Vegas 0-for-8 with runners on and retired the final nine batters he faced...Eliezer Alfonzo has hit safely in each of his first three games of the season with the Comets. The catcher is 6-for-11 (.545) with a double and two walks...Oklahoma City recorded two more double plays yesterday and the team's nine double plays to start the season are most in the PCL and tied with Louisville for most among Triple-A teams...The 40 walks issued by the OKC pitching staff through six games are the most in the PCL to start the season. Last season, the Comets issued a Minors-leading 782 walks - the most in a single season by an OKC team during the Bricktown era.

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