OKC Comets Game Notes - April 9, 2026
PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Comets Game Notes - April 9, 2026

Published on April 9, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Round Rock Express (3-8) vs. Oklahoma City Comets (5-6)

Game #12 of 150/First Half #12 of 75/Home #6 of 75

Pitching Probables: RR-RHP Josh Stephan (0-1, 6.00) vs. OKC-RHP Ryder Ryan (1-0, 6.75)

Thursday, April 9, 2026 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 6:35 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Comets will look to regain the lead in their home series against the Round Rock Express at 6:35 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The six-game series is tied, 1-1, as the Comets' stretch of three straight home wins came to an end Wednesday...Oklahoma City is now 2-5 in the last seven games overall and tonight will look to avoid back-to-back losses for the third time in an eight-game stretch.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Comets were limited to two runs in a 6-2 loss to the Round Rock Express Wednesday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Express scored three unearned runs in the first two innings due to two Comets errors, allowing Round Rock to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Oklahoma City got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run from Ryan Ward, who went 4-for-4 at the plate. The score remained 3-1 until the Express added three runs in the ninth inning to push the lead to 6-1. After being held scoreless for six innings, the Comets managed to score once in the ninth inning, converting on a leadoff triple by Michael Siani. The Comets were held 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position throughout the afternoon.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryder Ryan (1-0) makes his third start with OKC and second at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark after signing with the Dodgers Jan. 28 as a minor league free agent...In his last outing, Ryan earned his first career win as a starter April 3 at Las Vegas, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. His 5.0 innings of work and 80 pitches thrown both set new career highs...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...Entering the 2026 season, only six of Ryan's 346 career appearances had 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). He made his MLB debut with the Mariners Aug. 11, 2023 vs. Baltimore and previously pitched in the PCL for Round Rock (2021-22) and Tacoma (2023).

Against the Express: 2026: 1-1 2025: 12-6 All-time: 204-158 At OKC: 95-79

The Comets and Express meet for their first of four series this season and first of three series against one another during the first half...Round Rock finished 2025 with a 77-73 record and tied for the PCL lead with a 4.96 ERA with Sacramento...The Comets won the 2025 series between the teams, including winning five of the final six meetings June 17-22 in OKC, with three of the wins coming by one run...Alex Freeland paced the Comets with 25 hits and 17 RBI against the Express last season and the Comets hit 38 homers in the season series, led by five each from Michael Chavis, James Outman and Esteury Ruiz...Over the last five head-to-head series, the Comets' series record is 3-0-2. OKC has not dropped a series to Round Rock since a three-game set July 19-21, 2024 and has not lost a six-game series since Aug. 30-Sept. 4, 2022.

Unfamiliar Territory: Following a 3-1 start, the Comets are 2-5 over the last seven games...After losing yesterday's game by four runs, Oklahoma City now has three losses by four or more runs 11 games into the season and all three of those defeats have come within the last seven games. Last season, the Comets did not lose three games by four or more runs until April 30 (the 28th game of the season). In 2024, that did not occur until May 3 (the 31st game of the season). Although the team also sustained three such losses within the first 11 games in 2023, those were the team's only three losses as OKC went 8-3...At 5-6, Oklahoma City has its most losses through the first 11 games of a season since 2021 when OKC started 3-8...Today the Comets will try to avoid falling two games below .500 for the first time since Aug. 11, 2024 (56-58).

Re-Ward-ed: Ryan Ward recorded his first four-hit game of the season Wednesday as he finished a perfect 4-for-4 with a homer, two doubles and a RBI. The outing marked his eighth career game with four or more hits as he also recorded the fourth game of his career with three extra base hits in one game. Ward finished 2025 with three games of four hits or more, last occurring Aug. 19 in Tacoma (4-for-6)...Ward is now 12-for-27 (.444) with five doubles, two homers and seven RBI in the month of April (7 G). He leads the league in hits, AVG, doubles and total bases (23) in April...The reigning PCL MVP set OKC single-season Bricktown-era records with 164 hits, 122 RBI and 113 runs scored last season. In 2025, Ward led the Minors in RBI, with 36 homers, 73 extra-base hits and 315 total bases (143 G). He became the second OKC player to win MVP in the last two years (Michael Busch, 2023) and the third during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998), also joining Nelson Cruz (2008)...The outfielder collected the most RBI for any PCL hitter since 2010. Ward is also OKC's Bricktown-era record-holder for career home runs (92) and RBI (325) and leads the entire Minors this decade with 148 homers, 490 RBI, 444 runs and 1,288 total bases...At 85 career doubles with OKC, he is one shy of trying Drew Avans (2021-24) for third place all-time during the team's Bricktown era.

The Third Degree: James Tibbs III picked up a hit Wednesday to extend his on-base streak to 11 games - tied with teammate Noah Miller for the longest on-base streak in the league to start the season. Tibbs paces the PCL with 19 hits, along with a league-best 12 extra-base hits, 16 runs scored, 46 total bases, 1.481 OPS and is tied with Tacoma's Patrick Wisdom with a league-high 1.000 SLG...On Monday, Tibbs was named PCL Player of the Week for March 30-April 5. During a six-game series in Las Vegas, Tibbs batted .400 (10-for-25) with five home runs, five RBI, four walks and nine runs scored. He recorded his first career three-homer game Saturday as part of a four-hit effort and tallied the 14th three-homer game in Oklahoma City's Bricktown era and the first such performance in Minor League Baseball in 2026.

Dinger Details: Ryan Ward homered in the second inning yesterday as the Comets have now homered in a season-best four straight games (7 HR). The Comets' 15 homers to start the season are second-most in the PCL behind Las Vegas' 16 homers...Each of the last six and eight of the last nine homers by the Comets have been solo shots...Seven different Comets players have homered so far this season with only Ward (2), Nick Senzel (2) and James Tibbs III (7) tallying multiple homers...On the other hand, the Comets did not allow a home run by the Express Wednesday, snapping the Comets' league-high stretch of seven consecutive games (13 HR) allowing a home run March 31-April 7...The 15 home runs allowed by the Comets so far this season are second-most in the league behind Las Vegas' 16 homers allowed, and nine of those 15 dingers have been with at least one runner on base. Oklahoma City allowed a league-low 144 home runs during the 2025 season.

A Miller's Tale: Noah Miller reached base three times Wednesday with a single, double and walk. He extended his on base streak to 11 games, reaching in every game to start the season. His on-base streak is tied with teammate James Tibbs III for the longest on-base streak in the league to start 2026 and he leads the Comets with eight walks...This is Miller's longest on-base streak since the 2022 season when he reached base in a career-best 24 consecutive games with Single-A Fort Myers in the Florida State League.

Mound Maladies: Yesterday marked the sixth time this season the Comets allowed six or more runs in a game and fifth time allowing 12 or more hits, including for the third time in the last four games...The 107 hits and 65 runs allowed by the Comets overall to start the season are both second-most in the PCL behind Salt Lake...Oklahoma City's 5.12 ERA is third-highest in the league through 11 games...Including yesterday, the team has allowed at least one inning of three or more runs in eight of 11 games.

Around the Horn: Ryan Fitzgerald finished with a hit, walk and RBI yesterday. His 13 RBI and 18 hits to start the season are both tied for second-most in the PCL, while his .375 AVG is tied for third....Wednesday snapped a seven-game streak in which the Comets had scored first and Round Rock's early lead yesterday marked just the third time this season an OKC opponent scored first against the Comets. Wednesday also marked the first time all season the Comets did not hold a lead at some point in a game after doing so in each of their first 10 games of 2026...OKC gave up three unearned runs yesterday, and the team's 11 unearned runs are the most allowed by any PCL team this season...The Comets are 3-for-30 with runners in scoring position over the last four games.

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