OKC Comets Game Notes - August 20, 2025
PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Comets Game Notes - August 20, 2025

Published on August 20, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Comets (26-20/72-49) at

Tacoma Rainiers (29-17/67-54)

Game #122 of 150/Second Half #47 of 75/Home #65 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Roki Sasaki (0-0, 13.50) vs. TAC-LHP Jhonathan Diaz (8-6, 4.29)

Wednesday, August 20, 2025 | Cheney Stadium | Tacoma, Wash. | 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 seek a third straight win when they continue their road series against the Tacoma Rainiers at 9:05 p.m. CT at Cheney Stadium...Of the 29 games remaining in the second half of the PCL season for Oklahoma City, 11 games will be played on the road against the Rainiers and the Comets have won each of the last four games against the Rainiers...Tacoma is 3.0 games ahead of the Comets in the second-half PCL standings and is in second place, while the Comets are in fourth place.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Comets hit four home runs, including two by Ryan Ward, and tallied 19 hits during a 12-8 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers Tuesday night at Cheney Stadium. Ward gave the Comets a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a RBI single, and Kody Hoese hit a two-run double in the second inning to make it 3-0. Leo Rivas hit a two-run homer in the second inning for the Rainiers, but Noah Miller answered with a solo shot in the fourth inning for OKC. The Comets led, 5-4, after five innings when Ward mashed a two-run homer to left field. OKC then scored three runs in the seventh inning with a RBI double by Miller and RBI singles by Esteury Ruiz and CJ Alexander, stretching the lead to 10-4. It became an 11-4 lead when Austin Gauthier homered in the eighth inning, The Rainiers rallied for three runs in the eighth inning before Ward hit his second homer of the night in the ninth inning to make it 12-7. Tacoma scored once in the bottom of the ninth inning to finish the scoring.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki is scheduled to continue a Major League Rehab Assignment and make his second appearance with OKC...Sasaki pitched for the Comets Aug. 14 against Albuquerque and was charged with three runs on six hits over 2.0 innings with one walk, throwing 41 pitches (25 strikes). He faced a total of 13 batters, including two in the third inning before departing the game...Sasaki was placed on the 15-day Injured List with a right shoulder impingement May 13 and transferred to the 60-day IL June 20...Sasaki made eight starts with the Dodgers from March to May to begin his first MLB season, most recently appearing for the Dodgers May 9 at Arizona. Sasaki posted a 1-1 record and 4.72 ERA over 34.1 innings with the Dodgers, with 22 walks against 24 strikeouts...Over four seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League, Sasaki went 30-15 with a 2.02 ERA with 524 K's, three complete games and a 0.88 WHIP in 69 career games (414.2 IP) and was named a NPB All-Star in 2022 and 2023...He pitched a perfect game April 10, 2022 - the first by a NPB pitcher since 1994 - recording 19 strikeouts...He made two starts for Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic...Sasaki signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers Jan. 22, 2025 before having his contract selected by the Dodgers March 17.

Against the Rainiers: 2025: 5-2 2024: 8-7 All-time: 75-75 At TAC: 25-41

The Comets travel to Tacoma for the second series of the season between the teams and first of two during the final five weeks of the season at Cheney Stadium...Oklahoma City won the first series of the season between the teams April 15-20 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 4-2, as the Comets closed out the series with three straight wins, including both games of a series finale doubleheader...The Comets outscored the Rainiers, 25-21, and Alex Freeland hit five doubles over six games...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...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...Cheney Stadium has not been a hospitable locale for OKC the last several years, as the team is 3-7 in its last 10 games, 4-10 in the last 14 games and 9-20 over the last 29 games.

Summer Seesaw: The Comets have won three of the last four games and improved to 7-3 in the last 10 games with last night's victory...OKC is now 26-20 during the second half of the season, but the road to that record has been uneven. After starting the half 10-4, the Comets lost four straight games heading into the All-Star Break. But coming out the break, the Comets won six in a row before losing nine of the next 12 games. They snapped out of that funk by winning four straight before going 3-3 over the last six games...Oklahoma City still owns the best overall record in the PCL at 72-49, but is 10-12 over the last 22 games and 8-8 in the month of August.

Dinger Details: The Comets hit four home runs last night and have now hit seven homers over the last two games. Last night marked the eighth time this season the Comets hit four or more home runs in a game and the second time in the last 10 games, as they belted five homers Aug. 8 at El Paso...The Comets have hit 155 home runs this season - third-most in the PCL overall. However, only 59 of those home runs have been hit at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark this season - third-fewest for a PCL team at home in 2025 - while the Comets' 96 home runs hit on the road pace all teams in the Minors this season...Comets pitchers have allowed a league-low 116 home runs this season, but have allowed four homers over the last three games after allowing just one home run over the previous five games.

The Warden of Bricktown: Ryan Ward went 4-for-6 with two home runs and four RBI Tuesday, marking his third multi-homer game of the season. Ward also collected his third game of the season with four or more hits and fifth game with four or more RBI...With a RBI single in the first inning, Ward set the OKC record during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) for most RBI in a single season, breaking a tie with Jason Martin (107; 2022). Ward now leads the Minors with 31 homers, 111 RBI, 141 hits, 63 extra-base hits, 270 total bases and 98 runs scored...He has hit three home runs in the last two games after being held without a homer in a season-high stretch of 19 straight games...Ward's 111 RBI this season are the most by a player in the PCL since Christian Walker tallied 114 RBI with Reno in 2017...Over the last five games, Ward is 10-for-20 for five XBH and seven RBI.

Baker the Hit Maker: Luken Baker collected a third straight multi-hit game last night, going 2-for-5. Over the last three games, he is now 7-for-12...Baker has also hit safely in each of his first seven games with OKC, going 13-for-28 (.464) with four extra-base hits and four RBI...Including his last game with Memphis Aug. 2, Baker has hit safely in eight consecutive Triple-A games (14x33) with seven RBI...Baker was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers Aug. 4 from the St. Louis Cardinals and later outrighted to OKC.

Running with Ruiz: Esteury Ruiz reached base five times last night, going 3-for-4 with two walks and two stolen bases...Over his 10 games since returning to OKC from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ruiz is 13-for-37 (.351) with three home runs, one triple, two doubles, 10 RBI, 13 runs, 15 walks and nine stolen bases...He has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games with OKC...He leads the league with 48 stolen bases this season, including 47 with the Comets for the third-most stolen bases in a season by an OKC player during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998). He is now three stolen bases away from tying Esteban Germán for second place (50 SB in 2010) in OKC's Bricktown history.

Road Maps: The Comets improved to a league-best 39-19 on the road this season with yesterday's win and with another victory tonight can reach the 40-win mark on the road for the third straight season and fifth time during the team's affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers (since 2015)...Oklahoma City is 9-0-2 through its first 11 road series of 2025. Going back to last season, OKC has not lost 14 straight road series (12-0-2) with their last road series loss coming in El Paso July 30-Aug. 4, 2024...OKC has won four straight road games and is now 13-5 over the last 18 away games...The Comets bat at a league-leading .300 clip in road games, while their 96 home runs, 438 runs (7.6 RPG) and 636 hits are tops in the league on the road, and the Comets have a +126 run differential in road games.

August Ascent: CJ Alexander picked up a RBI single Tuesday and has hit safely in six straight games, going 10-for-28 (.357) with five extra-base hits, six RBI and five runs scored...This month he paces the Comets with 25 hits, including a team-best 13 extra-base hits and five homers. He has hit safely in 13 of 15 games while slashing .410/.479/.820.

Around the Horn: Noah Miller became the sixth Comet this season with three extra-base hits in a game last night, hitting a home run and two doubles...OKC scored in eight of nine innings Tuesday and tallied 19 hits - tied for the second-most in a game this season and one off the team's season high, set May 31 at Las Vegas...Kody Hoese now has five RBI across his last two games and has eight RBI over his last six games. He has hit safely in five straight games (6x20) as well as 14 of his last 15 games (17x56).

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