OKC Comets Game Notes - July 17, 2026
PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Comets Game Notes - July 17, 2026

Published on July 17, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Comets (10-7/51-40) vs. Tacoma Rainiers (7-11/40-53)

Game #92 of 149/Second Half #18 of 75/Road #43 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Christian Romero (8-2, 3.93) vs. TAC-RHP Carson Fulmer (2-1, 5.59)

Friday, July 17, 2026 | Cheney Stadium | Tacoma, Wash. | 9:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Comets return from the All-Star Break to open a nine-game road trip with a three-game series against the Tacoma Rainiers starting at 9:05 p.m. CT at Cheney Stadium...The Comets have won four consecutive games for the first time since May 28-31, and a win tonight would give OKC its longest winning streak since a season-best stretch of seven straight wins May 14-21.

Last Game: The Comets shut out the El Paso Chihuahuas Sunday afternoon as the Comets closed out a homestand with an 8-0 win. The Comets limited the Chihuahuas to two hits, matching the fewest hits allowed by the Comets in a game this season. The Comets got on the board in the fourth inning with a two-run home run by Ryan Ward. The Comets added to their lead in the sixth inning with RBI singles by Ward and Jack Suwinski. Oklahoma City received additional run support in the eighth inning with a run-scoring single from Noah Miller followed by a three-run blast from Austin Gauthier. The Chihuahuas recorded their only two hits in the fourth inning and saw just two batters reach base on walks after that frame.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Christian Romero (8-2) makes his 19th appearance (14th start) of 2026 as he rides a three-game winning streak...Last time out July 10 vs. El Paso, Romero fired 5.1 innings with one run, six hits, one walk and five strikeouts as the Comets won, 10-5...Across his last four outings, Romeo has recorded a 3-0 record with a 1.37 ERA in 19.2 IP, allowing a total of three runs and 17 hits. All three runs have scored on solo homers...Romero has surrendered three runs or fewer in each of his last 10 appearances dating back to May 14, recording a 2.54 ERA during that span...Among qualified PCL pitchers, he is tied for the league lead in wins with teammate Cole Irvin while ranking second in ERA (3.93), BAA (.261) and WHIP (1.33)...The Dodgers signed Romero as a minor league free agent Jan. 15, 2021 out of Mexico.

Against the Rainiers: 2026: 2-4 2025: 10-8 All-time: 82-85 At TAC: 30-47

This is the second of two series between the clubs in 2026, also marking the Comets' lone trip to Tacoma...When the two sides met in OKC April 21-26, the Comets won the first two games before falling in each of the final four contests. Five of the six games were decided by two runs or fewer...James Tibbs III (.333 AVG, 2 HR, 5 RBI) and Eliezer Alfonzo (.357 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI) both had four extra-base hits during the series...OKC's 10 wins against Tacoma in 2025 marked its most ever against the Rainiers in a single season as the teams played their most games against one another in a season since they began playing in 1998...The Comets made a pair of trips to Cheney Stadium last year, splitting both six-game sets. OKC has not won a series in Tacoma since 2018 and is 8-13 in the last 21 games, 9-16 in the last 25 games and 14-26 over the last 40 games at Cheney Stadium.

Ascending: The Comets have won four games in a row for the first time since May 28-31 against Sugar Land and are a season-best 11 games above.500. The team is 5-1 in the last six games, 6-2 in the last eight games, 8-4 in the last 12 games and 10-5 in the last 15 games...The Comets won their most recent series against El Paso, 4-1, as the series was shortened by one game due to rain. The series win was OKC's first since May 26-31 in Sugar Land (5-1) and first home series win since May 19-24 against Reno (4-2), as the Comets had split each of their previous four series and had either split or lost each of their previous five series, going 0-1-4.

Zero Hour: The Comets operated a bullpen game in their most recent game July 12 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark as nine pitchers combined for the teams' fourth shutout of the season and first since June 20 vs. Sacramento (6-0)...Oklahoma City pitchers surrendered just two hits and three walks while striking out nine batters with all nine pitchers throwing one inning each. They combined to retire a stretch of 13 straight batters between the fourth and eighth innings and did not have a runner advance past second base the entire game...The two hits allowed matched the Comets' season low for the third time this season, last accomplished July 3 vs. Sugar Land.

Pitching Prowess: The Comets notched nine strikeouts Sunday, and over the last 13 games, the Comets' 134 K since June 27 are tops among all Triple-A teams despite playing one fewer game than most teams. OKC has racked up at least 10 strikeouts in eight of those 13 games...The Comets did not allow an extra-base hit Sunday for the second time in four games and third time in the last eight games. The OKC pitching staff allowed two or fewer extra-base hits in all 11 games during the previous homestand for a total of 15 XBH, including just five extra-base hits in five games against El Paso...El Paso hit just one solo homer during the previous five-game series, as the Comets have allowed just one home run over the last six games and have not allowed a homer in eight of the last 10 games (3 HR).

History in the Making: Ryan Ward homered in a second consecutive game last Sunday as he hit the 99th home run of his Oklahoma City career as part of a 2-for-4 day with three RBI and two runs scored. Across his last two games, Ward 6-for-9 with two home runs, two doubles and four RBI...Ward set Oklahoma City's Bricktown-era career hits record July 8 and has hit safely in eight of his 10 games with OKC after being optioned by the Los Angeles Dodgers June 29, going 13-for-39 (.333) with three home runs and nine RBI...Ward now has 470 career hits with OKC, surpassing former teammate Drew Avans, who collected 462 hits from 2021-24 with OKC...Ward is also the Bricktown-era record-holder for career homers (99) and RBI (358), and since debuting with OKC in 2023, he leads all PCL hitters in hits, homers, RBI, extra-base hits (210) and runs (316). At 91 career doubles, he is now one double shy of tying for second place all-time in the Bricktown era and two doubles shy of tying the record of 93 held by Kelly Dransfeldt (1999-2002).

Jack Attack: Jack Suwinski went 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and run scored Sunday and is now 6-for-10 over his last three games with four doubles and six RBI...Suwinski has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games, batting .432 (19-for-44) with eight extra-base hits and 13 RBI since June 27...Suwinski ranks second in the PCL this season with 24 doubles and 44 extra-base hits, ranks third with 67 RBI and a .577 SLG and tied for third with 68 runs scored.

20/20 Vision: James Tibbs III finished Sunday's game with three hits, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. He is 6-for-12 over his last three games...Tibbs is one of only three players in the Minors this season with at least 20 doubles and 20 home runs, joining Hunter Fitz-Gerald (Double-A Arkansas) and Carter Graham (Double-A Chattanooga)...Tibbs leads the PCL with 65 walks and is tied for first in the league with 182 total bases, while he ranks second with 21 home runs, 71 RBI and 74 runs. He ranks third with 43 extra-base hits.

Hard-Line: Zach Ehrhard picked up three hits July 12 to become the seventh player in the PCL this season to reach 90 or more hits. The multi-hit game was his fifth since June 28 and he is batting .375 (15-for-40) over his last 11 games with eight RBI...Since June 2, he leads the Comets with 11 homers, 27 RBI, a .423 OBP, .605 SLG, 1.028 OPS, 39 hits, 17 extra-base hits, 78 total bases and 36 runs scored...Overall this season, he ranks tied for third in the PCL with 68 runs scored, as well as fourth with 61 RBI and 55 walks.

Getting Offensive: The Comets finished Sunday's game with 14 hits, reaching double figures for the third time during the five-game series against El Paso and 11th time in the last 15 games. Since June 25, the Comets are batting a league-best .307 (154-for-502) with 97 runs in those 15 games (6.5 RPG)...The Comets have scored 18 runs over the last two games and OKC has scored eight-plus runs in four of the last six games, with at least six runs in five of the six games (46 R). The only time they were held under six runs during that time was a rain-shortened game July 4, when the Comets scored five runs in five innings of offense...The Comets have scored five or more runs in seven consecutive games - their longest stretch doing so during an eight-game stretch May 14-22.

Around the Horn: OKC has won each of the last five times during the team's first game out of the All-Star Break, going back to 2019...Tonight is OKC's first road game since June 28 in Reno and the Comets own the second-best road record in the league at 24-18. However, the team is 4-6 last 10 road games.

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