OKC Comets Game Notes - March 27, 2026
PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Comets Game Notes - March 27, 2026

Published on March 27, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Albuquerque Isotopes (0-0) vs. Oklahoma City Comets (0-0)

Game #1 of 150/First Half #1 of 75/Home #1 of 75

Pitching Probables: ABQ-RHP Tanner Gordon (NR, -.--) vs. OKC-LHP Cole Irvin (NR, -.--)

Friday, March 27, 2026 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 7:05 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 begin the 2026 season with a three-game Opening Weekend home series against the Albuquerque Isotopes starting at 7:05 tonight at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Gates open at 6 p.m. and the first 1,000 fans receive a complimentary Comets hat presented by OKANA Resort and Indoor Waterpark...The Comets are opening their season at home for the first time since 2023.

2025 in Review: During the team's first season playing as the Comets, OKC finished 84-66 for the second-best record in the league and with the league's Most Valuable Player Ryan Ward. The Comets reached the 84-win mark for the third time in four seasons and posted a winning record in both the first and second halves, becoming the lone PCL team, and just one of two Triple-A teams, to record a winning record in all six halves since the split-season format began in Triple-A in 2023. The Comets held at least a share of first place in the overall PCL standings every day from July 20-Sept. 3 and again following a Sept. 19 win...The Comets finished with the best road record in the PCL at 45-30..At the plate, the Comets ranked fourth among the 120 teams across Minor League Baseball in runs scored and fifth in home runs...The Comets' 195 stolen bases set a new team single-season record during the Bricktown era, led by PCL Postseason All-Star Esteury Ruiz's team single-season Bricktown-era record 62 stolen bases...OKC drew 747 walks - the most in the Minors and the most in a season during the Bricktown era. Austin Gauthier drew a league-leading 93 walks to set a new single-season record for OKC during the Bricktown era...The Comets allowed the fewest home runs in the league with 144 and also recorded a league-leading 1,408 strikeouts.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Cole Irvin is set to make his OKC debut on Opening Day after being signed by the Dodgers Feb. 3 as a minor league free agent...Irvin spent last season with the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), finishing 8-12 with a 4.48 ERA in 28 starts...Irvin has MLB experience with Philadelphia (2019-20), Oakland (2021-22), Baltimore (2023-24) and Minnesota (2025). He made his MLB debut May 12, 2019 with Philadelphia at Kansas City, earning the win after allowing one run and five hits over 7.0 IP...The lefty will be making his first PCL appearance and last pitched in Triple-A in 2024 with Norfolk...With Lehigh Valley in 2018, he was named International League Pitcher of the Year, a Baseball America Triple-A All-Star and International League Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star...Tonight marks Irvin's second career Opening Day start after getting the opening nod for Lehigh Valley in 2019 vs. Rochester (ND, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K).

Against the Isotopes: 2026: 0-0 2025: 10-8 All-time: 164-135 At OKC: 90-62

Albuquerque enters 2026 after finishing the prior season in last place in the PCL with a 62-87 record. The 2025 season marked the Isotopes' second-straight at the bottom of the Pacific Coast League and the club last finished with a winning record in 2013...The Comets won the 2025 series between the teams, 10-8, with eight of OKC's 10 wins decided by three runs or less and with eight of those contests via one-run victories...The teams split their last series of the 2025 season Aug. 12-17...Albuquerque led the league with 199 homers in 2025...The Comets have won back-to-back season series against Albuquerque, as well as five of the last seven, with the Isotopes last winning the 2023 series between the teams...Prior to OKC becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate, the Isotopes served as the Dodgers' Triple-A club from 2009-2014.

Struggle to Launch: Oklahoma City is 11-16 in season openers during the Bricktown era (since 1998), including 4-9 when the season opens at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Comets are 1-5 in their last six season-opening games and have lost three straight...Last season, the Comets opened play in Sugar Land and led, 3-0, entering the bottom of the ninth inning before the Space Cowboys rallied for four runs to win, 4-3...OKC last won on Opening Day April 5, 2022 at home against Albuquerque, thanks to a walk-off home run by Jason Martin...OKC is 1-1 on Opening Day against Albuquerque, with both previous match-ups being played at home (2010, 2022)...In home openers overall, OKC Is 11-16, with wins each of the last two seasons.

Seeing Stars: OKC's Opening Day roster features five players ranked among the Dodgers' top 30 prospects per Baseball America: Zach Ehrhard (No. 21), Kyle Hurt (No. 22), Noah Miller (No. 23), James Tibbs III (No. 26) and Ronan Kopp (No. 28)...The roster also includes six players currently on the Dodgers 40-man roster: Paul Gervase, Hurt, Hyeseong Kim, Kopp, Michael Siani and Ryan Ward. Sixteen players on the roster boast MLB experience while 12 were a member of the 2025 OKC squad.

Re-Ward-ed: Ryan Ward returns to the Comets after taking home 2025 Pacific Coast League MVP. Ward led the Minors with 36 home runs, 122 RBI, 73 extra-base hits and 315 total bases in 143 games. He became the second Oklahoma City player to win MVP in the last two years (Michael Busch, 2023) and the third to win the award during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) joining Nelson Cruz (2008)...The outfielder collected the most RBI for any Pacific Coast League hitter since 2010 and recorded at least 30 homers and 100 RBI for a second straight season...Ward set OKC single-season Bricktown-era records with 164 hits, 122 RBI and 113 runs scored. Ward's 36 home runs were the second-most in a season for an OKC player and one shy of Nelson Cruz's 2008 Bricktown-era record. Ward also set Bricktown-era records for career home runs (90) and RBI (318)...The Dodgers eighth-round pick in 2019 was added to LA's 40-man roster in November.

Return of the Comet: Hyeseong Kim was part of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2025 postseason, which ended in a second consecutive World Series title. During his first season in the U.S., Kim played in 37 games for the Comets and 71 for the Dodgers. In OKC, Kim hit .268 with nine doubles, five homers, 22 RBI and 14 stolen bases...Kim played in two crucial postseason games for the Dodgers, scoring the series-winning run on a wild throw at home plate in the NLDS vs. Philadelphia and as a defensive replacement in the 11th inning during Game 7 of the World Series at Toronto...Kim recently represented Korea in the World Baseball Classic and recorded one homer, three RBIs and one stolen base in four games. His homer came against team Japan on March 7...An English translation for his first name is "comet."

Leading the Charge: Manager Scott Hennessey returns for his second season in the Comets dugout after reaching 500 career wins last summer during OKC's 86-66 campaign. Hennessey previously served as manager of Double-A Tulsa from the middle of the 2017 season through 2024. With 455 career wins with the Drillers, including 16 playoff victories, he is the second-winningest manager in Tulsa professional baseball history, dating back to 1905...The Comets 2026 coaching staff features several returning faces including hitting coach Dylan Nasiatka, pitching coaches David Anderson and Ryan Dennick, development associate Tyler Hollow and bullpen catcher KJ Hallgren. New faces on the staff include bench coach Joe Thon and outfield/assistant hitting coach David Dahl. Dahl, who announced his retirement as a player in December 2025, was part of the 2023 OKC Pacific Coast League Championship team and a 2019 NL All-Star with Colorado.

Winning with the Champs: Oklahoma City enters its 12th year as the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Comets have experienced unprecedented success on the field during the affiliation since 2015, during which the Dodgers have won three World Series titles and 10 NL West titles. Of the 26 members on the 2026 World Series roster, 16 played for OKC at some point during the 2026 regular season as an active member of the roster or as part of a Major League Rehab Assignment...OKC has finished with 79 or more wins six times in the last 10 years. Prior to the Dodgers affiliation, OKC posted 79 or more wins just four times over a span of 17 seasons from 1998-2014...OKC's 780 wins since 2015 are the most in the PCL and rank third-most among all 30 Triple-A clubs...Oklahoma City signed a 10-year Professional Development League (PDL) License agreement with the Dodgers in early 2021, extending an existing affiliation between the teams through the 2030 season.

Visiting Clubhouse is That Way: Albuquerque outfielder Drew Avans will face OKC for the first time in his career following an illustrious four-year run in Bricktown from 2021-24. Avans is the franchise's Bricktown era career leader in hits (462), runs (345), triples (26) and walks (261) and played in 471 games while suiting up for OKC.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from March 27, 2026


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