OKC Comets Game Notes - April 18, 2025
PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Comets Game Notes - April 18, 2025

April 18, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Tacoma Rainiers (9-9) at Oklahoma City Comets (11-7)

Game #19 of 150/First Half #19 of 75/Home #10 of 75

Pitching Probables: TAC-RHP Blas Castano (2-0, 1.76) vs. OKC-RHP Matt Sauer (1-0, 1.13)

Friday, April 18, 2025 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 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 look to even their home series against the Tacoma Rainiers at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Rainiers have a 2-1 series lead as the Comets have lost three of their last four games and four of their last six games...Friday Night Fireworks are scheduled to follow tonight's game.

Last Game: A RBI single in the top of the ninth inning by Tyler Locklear sent the Tacoma Rainiers to a 5-4 win against the Oklahoma City Comets Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City scored the first run of the night in the third inning, then battled back later in the game to tie the score twice against the Rainiers. Trailing, 3-1, in the sixth inning, Michael Chavis connected on a RBI double, followed by a RBI single by James Outman to knot the score at 3-3. The teams exchanged runs in the eighth inning with Oklahoma City's Kody Hoese tying the score, 4-4, on a solo home run to left field with two outs. After Tacoma took the lead in the top of the ninth inning, Rainiers pitcher Drew Pomeranz retired all three Comets batters he faced in the bottom of the inning.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Matt Sauer (1-0) looks for back-to-back wins when he makes his third start of the season with OKC...Sauer last pitched April 12 in Round Rock, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings and allowing two singles with four strikeouts. He faced one over the minimum, throwing 50 pitches and combined with two relievers on the team's first shutout of the season when the Comets beat the Express, 15-0...On April 7, he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Washington, tossing 1.2 innings of relief and allowing one run and three hits before being optioned back to OKC the next day...He made his season debut with OKC April 2 in a start against El Paso...He signed with the Dodgers as a minor league free agent in January and was on the Dodgers' active roster during the Tokyo Series but did not pitch and was optioned to OKC March 20...Sauer split time in the Kansas City and New York Yankees organizations last season after the Royals selected him with the second pick of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft from the Yankees. He made the Royals' Opening Day roster and his ML debut March 31, going on to make 14 relief appearances before rejoining the Yankees organization and making 27 appearances in the Minors...Sauer was drafted by the Yankees in 2017 in the second round of the MLB Draft from Righetti High School in Santa Maria, Calif.

Against the Rainiers: 2025: 1-2 2024: 8-7 All-time: 71-75 At OKC: 47-34

The Comets and Rainiers meet for their first of three series this season, including their lone series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as well as their only series during the first half of the PCL schedule...OKC edged Tacoma, 8-7, in the 2024 season series with 12 of the 15 meetings between the teams being played at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC also won six of the final eight games between the teams last season...Both teams scored 82 runs against one another last season, with OKC hitting 18 home runs compared to six for the Rainiers...Ryan Ward led OKC with 12 RBI and tied for the team lead with three home runs with James Outman and Andre Lipcius in the season series...Last season marked the first time OKC won a season series against the Rainiers since 2019, as Tacoma went a combined 16-11 against OKC during the 2022 and 2023 seasons and the teams did not meet in 2021...Seven of OKC's last 14 home victories against the Rainiers have come via walk-off wins, including four in a row at one point last season.

Free Bird: Alex Freeland went 2-for-5 with a double last night to record a second straight multi-hit game and his ninth multi-hit outing in his last 12 games. Over the 12-game stretch, Freeland is batting .400 (22x55) with 10 extra-base hits, 15 RBI and eight runs scored...His 26 hits lead all players in the Minors to start the season, while his nine doubles rank second in the Minors and also pace the PCL. Freeland's 17 RBI and five stolen bases are both tied for fourth in the league...He has already surpassed his doubles total from 2024 with OKC when he hit seven doubles over 39 Triple-A games and is one RBI shy of tying his Triple-A mark of 18 in 39 games with OKC last season.

Blastoff: Kody Hoese hit his first home run of the season Thursday to tie the score at 4-4 in the eighth inning. The Comets have homered in back-to-back games and have now hit 20 home runs over the last nine games - most by any team in the Majors or Minors since April 8...Entering last week's road series in Round Rock, the Comets had hit just two homers over the previous eight games and five total through the first nine games of the season. Now the Comets' 25 home runs through 18 games are third-most in all of the Minors (and the PCL) to start the season...However, through nine home games, the Comets have hit just four home runs. This is the first time the Comets have homered in consecutive home games...Twelve different players have homered for the Comets to start the season, led by Michael Chavis' six homers.

Sales Pitch: The Comets allowed five runs Thursday as the team allowed five or more runs for the third time in the last four games and for the ninth time in the last 13 games...Despite the recent uptick in opponent runs, OKC's pitching staff owns a league-best ERA of 3.85 and has allowed a league-low 77 runs (70 ER) on 138 hits through 18 games, while the Comets' 172 strikeouts are third-most in the PCL...However, Oklahoma City issued seven walks last night and the team's 106 walks allowed are most in the Minors. The Comets have issued seven or more walks in eight games this season. When allowing six or more walks this season, the Comets are 4-6. In games they allow five or fewer walks, they are 7-1. In the team's seven losses, the pitching staff is averaging 7.4 walks per game and in the 11 wins, it drops to 4.0 walks per game...Yesterday OKC held the Rainiers to two extra-base hits and has allowed a total of six extra-base hits over the last six games and nine extra-base hits over the last eight games. The Comets have allowed only one home run across the last six games.

Ready to Launch: The Comets offense has been held to four runs or less in four straight games for the first time this season, totaling 12 runs and scoring runs in just seven of 35 innings during the stretch. OKC's run total over the last four games is tied for lowest in the PCL in contrast to the first 14 games of the season when the Comets' 88 runs scored, .293 AVG, .397 OBP, .489 SLG, .886 OPS and 19 stolen bases led all PCL teams, while the team's 125 hits ranked second and OKC's 69 walks ranked tied for second...OKC was last held to four runs or less in four straight games as part of a five-game stretch Sept. 3-9, 2024 when OKC scored a total of 10 runs...Four of OKC's eight hits in Thursday's game went for extra bases and the Comets now have nine extra-base hits over the last two games after being held to a total of two extra-base hits over the previous two games...The Comets went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are now 5-for-52 (.096) over the last six games and 9-for-68 (.132) over the last eight games.

Cheers for Chavis: Michael Chavis went 1-for-3 with a RBI double and walk last night. Over his last seven games, Chavis is 10-for-28 (.357) with four homers, two doubles, seven RBI and nine runs...On Monday, Chavis was named PCL Player of the Week for the period of April 8-13. During OKC's road trip in Round Rock, Chavis went 9-for-21 (.429) with four home runs, a double, six RBI, eight runs scored and three walks over five games...Chavis' six homers are second-most in the league and his .661 SLG is third...Through 18 games, Chavis has recorded four of the team's top five exit velocities.

Austin City Limits: Austin Gauthier drew two walks in yesterday's game and has now reached base in 10 straight games as well as in 18 of his last 29 plate appearances (.621 OBP). During the 10-game stretch, Gauthier is 10-for-30 with 14 walks...Gauthier's 15 total walks this season are second-most in the league, while his .473 OBP ranks third...His on-base streak is tied for the third-longest by an OKC player this season and is his longest on-base streak since reaching in 11 consecutive games with OKC June 11-22, 2024.

2-for-1: The Comets turned two more double plays yesterday and have recorded six double plays over the last two games. On Wednesday, OKC turned four double plays in a nine-inning game for the first time since June 9, 2024 vs. Round Rock...The Comets have at least one double play in each of the last six games for a total of 12 during that time...The team's 20 double plays through 18 games are tied for most in the PCL.

Around the Horn: Chris Okey hit safely in a sixth straight game Thursday night and is 7-for-21 (.333) during the stretch with eight RBI...After outhitting their opponent 10 times over the first 11 games of the season, the Comets have now been outhit by their opponent in five of the last seven games, including each of the last four games.

Check out the Oklahoma City Comets Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from April 18, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central