OKC Comets Game Notes - April 30, 3025
April 30, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
El Paso Chihuahuas (12-15) at Oklahoma City Comets (19-8)
Game #28 of 150/First Half #28 of 75/Home #13 of 75
Pitching Probables: ELP-LHP Wes Benjamin (1-2, 5.87) vs. OKC-LHP Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 0.00)
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:05 p.m. CT
Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Sports Live
Today's Game: Following a postponed series opener Tuesday due to rain, the Oklahoma City Comets open a six-game series against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Three-time Cy Young Award-winner Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to pitch for the Comets to continue a Major League Rehab Assignment...Tonight also kicks off a 12-game homestand for the Comets, who own the best record in the Pacific Coast League and have won eight of their last nine games.
Last Game: Tuesday's series opener with El Paso was postponed due to rain and will now be made up as part of a Thursday doubleheader at 11 a.m....On Sunday, Ryan Ward's two-run home run in the ninth inning gave the OKC Comets their first lead of the day in an 8-7 comeback win against the Salt Lake Bees at The Ballpark at America First Square. The Comets scored seven runs over the final four innings to overcome a five-run deficit. A solo homer by James Outman had cut the Salt Lake lead to 2-1 before the Bees scored four runs in the bottom of the inning for a 6-1 advantage. Dalton Rushing connected on a RBI double in the sixth inning and Justin Dean belted a three-run homer in the seventh inning to trim the Bees' lead to 6-5. Salt Lake tacked on a run via a solo homer before OKC brought in a run on a Bees error in the eighth inning. Following Ward's go-ahead home run, Jack Little stranded the Bees' potential game-tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure his league-leading sixth save.
Today's Probable PItcher: Ten-time MLB All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award-winner, 2014 National League Most Valuable Player, 2011 Rawlings Gold Glove winner and two-time World Series champion Clayton Kershaw is slated to start as he continues a Major League Rehab Assignment in preparation for his 18th season with the Los Angeles Dodgers...The Dodgers placed Kershaw on the 60-day Injured List March 18 following offseason surgery on his left toe and left knee after left big toe inflammation ended his 2024 season Aug. 31...Kershaw has made two appearances during his rehab assignment, including April 16 with OKC against Tacoma and April 22 with Double-A Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas. He pitched 3.0 scoreless innings with OKC, facing 10 batters and throwing 30 pitches (22 strikes), allowed two hits with two strikeouts. With Tulsa, he threw 60 pitches (33 strikes) and faced 15 batters, allowing one run and four hits with one walk and four strikeouts...Kershaw made seven starts with the Dodgers last season from July 25-Aug. 30, posting a 4.50 ERA and 2-2 record with 24 strikeouts and nine walks after the start of his season was delayed while he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery...Kershaw also made rehab appearances with OKC last season, as well as in 2021, 2019 and 2017, and tonight will be his seventh career game with OKC...Kershaw has made additional stops in OKC as a four-time winner of the Warren Spahn Award (2011, 2013, 2014, 2017).
Against the Chihuahuas: 2025: 4-2 2024: 10-8 All-time: 64-52 At OKC: 34-22
The Comets and Chihuahuas meet for their second series of the season as they face off 12 times during the first half of the PCL season in 2025 after playing each other for all 18 of their head-to-head games during the second half of the 2024 season within a span of 39 games. This season, the teams meet an additional six times during the second half...During the first series of the season between the teams April 1-6, Oklahoma City won the first four games before the Chihuahuas took the final two games. Ryan Ward led OKC with nine hits, while Alex Freeland had six RBI...OKC won the 2024 season series, 10-8, for the team's second season-series win against the Chihuahuas since 2018, but El Paso outscored OKC, 94-76, and outhit OKC, 161-141, over 18 games last season...OKC took five of six games during the final 2024 series between the teams Aug. 20-25 at home...Kody Hoese hit a team-leading five homers and racked up 13 RBI in the 2024 series.
Upward Trajectory: The Comets have won back-to-back games, as well as eight of their last nine games and nine of their last 11 games. They have also won each of their first five series of the season, winning five straight series for the first time since the 2023 season...Oklahoma City has not won six straight series since the PCL shifted to mainly six-game series in 2021 and last won more than five consecutive series when OKC started the 2015 season by winning seven series in a row April 9-May 7, 2015...OKC paces the PCL with 19 wins and is a season-best 11 games above .500.
The All Out Show: James Outman was named PCL Player of the Week by Minor League Baseball Monday for the period of April 22-27, becoming the second Comets player to receive a weekly MiLB honor this season (Michael Chavis, April 8-13)...He went 2-for-5 Sunday for his sixth multi-hit game of the season and fourth in five games. He also hit his sixth homer of the season to move him into a tie with Chavis for the team lead and tied for third-most in the PCL...Since April 22, Outman has slashed .462/.481/.808 and posted a 1.289 OPS, including a PCL-high 12 hits, with five for extra bases...Outman has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .386 (17x44) with three homers, nine RBI and nine runs scored and compiled a nine-game hitting streak - his longest since June 9-18, 2021 with High-A Great Lakes...His 14 total extra-base hits are tied for fifth in the league.
The Warden: On Sunday, Ryan Ward homered in a second consecutive game as well as for the third time in five games in Salt Lake. The homer was Ward's fifth of the season and the 59th of his Oklahoma City career. He is now tied with Edwin Ríos (2017-19; 2022) for second place on OKC's Bricktown-era (since 1998) career home runs list and is one home run away from tying Jason Hart's (2002-03; 2006) team record of 60 homers...Ward is now up to 214 RBI in his OKC career, tying Ríos for third place on OKC's Bricktown-era list and is now 16 RBI away from tying the team record of 230 set by Jason Botts (2005-08)...Over his first two seasons with Oklahoma City, Ward has finished with at least 95 RBI and 21 home runs each season and he currently has four homers and 16 RBI through 25 games...Ward has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, batting .353 (12x34) with nine RBI, three homers and eight runs scored.
Base Jumping: Esteury Ruiz went 2-for-5, scored a run and stole three bases Sunday. He became the first Oklahoma City player with three stolen bases in a game since Tim Locastro - who currently plays for OKC's opponent El Paso - last did it Aug. 15, 2017 in Omaha...Ruiz has now reached base in all 16 games he has played with the Comets, as well as in all 18 Triple-A games he has played this season, including his time at the start of the season with Las Vegas...His 16-game on-base streak with OKC is the longest of the season by a Comets player and his 18-game overall on-base streak is tied for the third-longest in the league this season...Ruiz now has a PCL-high 13 stolen bases to start 2025, including 12 stolen bases with OKC...Ruiz has hit safely in six straight games, going 9-for-23 (.391) with three extra-base hits and three multi-hit games.
Sunday Funday: Oklahoma City picked up its second win of the season when trailing after eight innings Sunday (previously April 10 at Round Rock) and was also the Comets' sixth last at-bat win this season...Sunday also marked OKC's largest comeback victory of the season after the Comets had trailed by five runs earlier in the game...The Comets have won back-to-back one-run games and five of their last eight victories have come by one-run margins. A league-leading 11 of OKC's first 27 games of the season have been decided by one run, with OKC going a PCL-best 8-3 in those close games.
Dinger Details: The Comets hit three home runs in Sunday's series finale for their most homers in a game since a seven-homer day April 12 in Round Rock. OKC hit nine homers over the six-game series at Salt Lake, including five over the last two games...Oklahoma City's 35 home runs this season are second-most in the league behind Albuquerque (36). However, only five of those home runs have been hit at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season - fewest by a team at home this season (12 G)...Since April 8 (18 G), the Comets' 30 home runs are tied for most in the Minors with the Charlotte Knights.
Around the Horn: The Comets' 45 stolen bases lead the PCL, and they have 18 steals over the last seven games (18-for-21), with at least two steals in six of the seven games. Over the past four seasons, OKC has not finished higher than sixth in the in the 10-team PCL...OKC pitchers issued nine more walks Sunday, marking the fifth time this season OKC pitchers have allowed nine or more free passes in a game. OKC's 154 walks allowed lead the Minors (and Majors) for an average of 5.7 per game. There have been at least six walks in 14 of 27 games...Alex Freeland ranks tied for third in the league with 12 doubles, fourth with 25 RBI, tied for fifth with 34 hits and tied for fifth with 14 extra-base hits.
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