OKC Comets Game Notes - July 18, 2026
PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Comets Game Notes - July 18, 2026

Published on July 18, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Comets (10-8/51-41) vs. Tacoma Rainiers (8-11/41-53)

Game #93 of 149/Second Half #19 of 75/Road #44 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-LHP Blake Snell (0-0, 4.50) vs. TAC-RHP Casey Lawrence (5-6, 3.98)

Saturday, July 18, 2026 | Cheney Stadium | Tacoma, Wash. | 8:05 p.m. CT

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

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Comets will look to even their series against the Tacoma Rainiers when the teams continue their series at 8:05 p.m. CT at Cheney Stadium...Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell is scheduled to pitch for Oklahoma City as part of a Major League Rehab Assignment.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Comets fell short in their first contest following the All-Star Break with a 5-4 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers Friday night at Cheney Stadium. The Comets took a quick lead with a Ryan Ward sacrifice fly in the first inning and made it 2-0 in the second inning following a RBI single by Chuckie Robinson. Tacoma got on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a leadoff homer from Patrick Wisdom and later took the lead on a two-run blast by Lazaro Montes in the fourth inning. Still trailing, 3-2, in the seventh inning, Hyeseong Kim and Ryan Fitzgerald hit back-to-back home runs to take a 4-3 lead. However, Tacoma jumped back in front with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Down by one run in the ninth inning, OKC had the bases loaded with one out before Ward hit into a game-ending double play.

Today's Probable Pitchers: Blake Snell joins OKC for the second time this season to begin a Major League Rehab Assignment...Snell is currently on the Los Angeles Dodgers' 60-day Injured List due to loose bodies in his left elbow. This marks his second stint on the IL this season after missing the start of the year with left shoulder fatigue...Snell made three rehab starts, including one with OKC May 3 at Round Rock (ND, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), before returning to the Dodgers for one start May 9 at Atlanta and landing back on the IL six days later...Snell is in his second season with the Dodgers after signing as a free agent in November 2024...Last season with LAD, Snell went 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and .230 BAA in 11 starts. He missed close to four months due to left shoulder inflammation...He took home his first World Series title in 2025, appearing in six postseason games, including in relief during the Game 7 clincher in Toronto...Snell is a two-time Cy Young Award winner (2018 with Tampa Bay; 2023 with San Diego)...Tampa Bay originally selected Snell in the first round (52nd overall) in the 2011 MLB Draft from Shorewood (Wash.) High School - located approximately 48 miles north of Cheney Stadium.

Charlie Barnes (2-2) is slated to piggyback Snell as he makes his eighth appearance and first out of the bullpen for OKC...Barnes was DFA by the Dodgers July 11 before re-signing a minor league deal six days later...He last started for OKC July 7 vs. El Paso, surrendering seven runs on eight hits in 1.2 IP with one walk and a strikeout...Barnes has had two stints with LAD this season, making three appearances...The lefty first joined the Dodgers after being claimed off waivers from Chicago (NL) May 9. He had appeared in seven games (four starts) with Triple-A Iowa and made one appearance for Chicago for his first ML appearance since 2021...Barnes split last season between the KBO's Lotte Giants and Triple-A Louisville (CIN) and played for Lotte from 2022-24...Barnes was originally drafted by Minnesota in the fourth round of the 2017 MLB Draft from Clemson University.

Against the Rainiers: 2026: 2-5 2025: 10-8 All-time: 82-86 At TAC: 30-48

Last night, the Comets lost a fifth straight game against the Rainiers, with four of those losses by one or two runs...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 8-14 in the last 22 games, 9-17 in the last 26 games and 14-27 over the last 41 games at Cheney Stadium.

Summer Stretch: The Comets' four-game winning streak came to an end last night as they lost for just the second time in the last seven games...The team is 5-2 in the last seven games, 6-3 in the last nine games, 8-5 in the last 13 games and 10-6 in the last 16 games...The Comets won their last 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...Tonight the Comets will look to match their season high of 11 games above .500.

Comet's Tales: Hyeseong Kim hit his first home run in 39 games with Oklahoma City this season and his first overall since April 15 with the Dodgers against the New York Mets, as he finished Friday's game 3-for-4 with two runs scored...Over his last five games, Kim is 8-for-17 (.471) with three multi-hit outings and he has hit safely in five of his last six games (9-for-21)...Since June 25 (13 G), Kim is batting .326 (14-for-43) with six RBI and 10 runs scored.

No Doubting Thomas: Alek Thomas went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored Friday. Thomas has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 12-for-32 (.375) with eight extra-base hits and 10 RBI...Starting June 23 (16 G), Thomas is 22-for-61 and is slashing .361/.426/.623 with 10 extra-base hits and 14 RBI.

On the Mend: Los Angeles Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández began a Major League Rehab Assignment with Oklahoma City Friday night, going 1-for-3 with a double while playing five innings at third base...Hernández was placed on the Dodgers' Injured List May 27 due to a left oblique strain. This is Hernández's second rehab stint with Oklahoma City this season as he played in 13 games with the Comets back in May while recovering from left elbow surgery performed in the offseason...The Comets have had at least one player on their roster as part of a ML rehab assignment for 69 of OKC's 71 games since April 21.

Dinger Details: Last night, Hyeseong Kim and Ryan Fitzgerald teamed up for the Comets' fourth set of back-to-back homers this season. The Comets last hit consecutive homers when Fitzgerald and Alek Thomas did so June 19 vs. Sacramento but it was the first time on the road since Ryan Ward and James Tibbs III went back-to-back April 2 at Las Vegas. Fitzgerald has been part of three of Oklahoma City's four sets of back-to-back homers this season...The Comets surrendered two homers last night after limiting opponents to one homer over the last six games and Friday was the first time OKC allowed multiple homers in a game since July 4 vs. Sugar Land (2 HR). OKC has allowed a Triple-A-low five home runs in July (11 G).

Close Calls: Last night marked the Comets' 28th game of the season decided by one run and fourth game this month as OKC fell to 13-15 in one-run games this season, tied for the third-most one-run losses in the league...Nine of OKC's last 18 losses since June 2 (36 G) have been by one run, and five of the team's last seven road losses have been by one run...Seven of OKC's last nine losses overall have been by two runs or less...In six of the team's last 15 losses, the Comets have been tied or led in the seventh inning or later.

Jack Attack: Jack Suwinski had Friday off and is 6-for-10 over his last three games with four doubles and six RBI...He 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 with 44 extra-base hits and tied for second with 24 doubles.

Around the Horn: OKC pitchers struck out 10 batters Friday and OKC's 144 K since June 27 (14 G) are tops among all Triple-A teams despite playing one fewer game than most teams. Comets pitchers have racked up at least 10 strikeouts in nine of those 14 games...James Tibbs III reached base three times Friday and is 7-for-14 over his last four games...The Comets' streak of seven straight games with five or more runs ended last night - their longest stretch doing so since an eight-game streak May 14-22. OKC has now lost 15 of the last 16 times when scoring four or fewer runs...At 91 career doubles, Ryan Ward 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). Ward already owns OKC's Bricktown-era career records for hits (470), homers (99) and RBI (359).

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