OKC Comets Game Notes - March 28, 2026
Published on March 28, 2026 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Albuquerque Isotopes (1-0) vs. Oklahoma City Comets (0-1)
Game #2 of 150/First Half #2 of 75/Home #2 of 75
Pitching Probables: ABQ-RHP Valente Bellozo (NR, -.--) vs. OKC-RHP Ryder Ryan (NR, -.--)
Saturday, March 28, 2026 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | 6:05 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 continue their season-opening series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 6:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Comets look for their first win of 2026 and to even their three-game set against the Isotopes after losing Friday's season opener...The Comets have not started a season 0-2 since 2021.
Last Game: The Oklahoma City Comets quickly grabbed the lead in the first inning of their season-opening game against the Albuquerque Isotopes, but were held scoreless over the final eight innings in a 3-1 loss Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC's first three hitters of the night singled, including a RBI single by Zach Ehrhard for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The Isotopes tallied all three of their runs in the second inning with Drew Avans tying the score on a RBI single and Cole Carrigg following with a two-run triple to take the lead. OKC loaded the bases in the seventh inning with two outs, but were unable to bring in a run. The Comets held Albuquerque scoreless and to three singles over the game's final eight innings.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryder Ryan becomes the second straight OKC starter to make his team debut this season after signing with the Dodgers Jan. 28 as a minor league free agent...Ryan 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...Entering tonight, only six of Ryan's 346 career pro appearances have been starts...The righty has MLB experience with Seattle (2023) and Pittsburgh (2024-25). He made his MLB debut with the Mariners Aug. 11, 2023 vs. Baltimore out of the bullpen (ND, 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO). Ryan previously pitched in the PCL for Round Rock (TEX, 2021-22) and Tacoma (2023)...He last pitched at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark while with the Rainiers in September 2023.
Against the Isotopes: 2026: 0-1 2025: 10-8 All-time: 164-136 At OKC: 90-63
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...Going back to July 2023, OKC is 16-21 at home against the Isotopes and 8-11 over the last 19 meetings in Bricktown.
0-1 Ain't Fun: Oklahoma City has now lost four straight season openers, but in each of the previous three seasons, has followed up with a win in the next game. The Comets have not started a season with back-to-back losses since 2021 when OKC opened the season with four straight losses...OKC is now 1-6 over the last seven Opening Day games going back to 2019, with the lone win occurring in 2022...Oklahoma City fell to 11-17 in season openers during the Bricktown era (since 1998), including 4-10 when the season opens at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...In home openers overall, OKC is also now 11-17.
Singled Out: The Comets tallied five singles in Friday's game, including by each of the team's first three batters of the night. However, the team went just 2-for-28 for the remainder of the game...OKC did not collect an extra-base hit just three times in 150 games last season, last occurring Sept. 6, 2025 in Sugar Land (L, 2-0)...OKC has been limited to three or fewer runs in eight of the last nine season openers, including a total of four runs in the past three season openers combined.
Roster Rundown: 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 went 1-for-3 with a walk Friday, returning to the Comets after being named 2025 PCL 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 OKC player to win MVP in the last three years (Michael Busch, 2023) and the third to win the award during the team's Bricktown era (since 1998) joining Nelson Cruz (2008)...He collected the most RBI for any PCL hitter since 2010 and recorded at least 30 homers and 100 RBI for a second straight season...Ward set OKC single-season Bricktown-era marks with 164 hits, 122 RBI and 113 runs. Ward's 36 homers were the second-most - one shy of Cruz's 2008 Bricktown-era record. Ward also set Bricktown-era records for career homers (90) and RBI (318)...The Dodgers added Ward to the 40-man roster in November.
Welcome Mat: Outfielders Zach Ehrhard and James Tibbs III each collected a hit during their Triple-A debuts. Ehrhard drove in the Comets' first run of the season, walked once and stole a base. Tibbs finished 1-for-4 from the cleanup spot. Both outfielders were acquired by the Dodgers in the same trade with Boston last season for RHP Dustin May.
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...On the mound, the Comets recorded a league-leading 1,408 strikeouts.
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.
Frienemy: Albuquerque outfielder Drew Avans is facing 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.
Pacific Coast League Stories from March 28, 2026
- Fitzgerald's Career Night Powers OKC to 13-6 Comeback Win - Oklahoma City Comets
- Strahm's Walk-off Single Gives Sugar Land First Win of the Season - Sugar Land Space Cowboys
- Late Trio of Run-Scoring Innings Secures First Reno 2026 Victory - Reno Aces
- Rainiers' Late Rally Not Enough in 8-4 Loss to Reno - Tacoma Rainiers
- Condon Homers Twice in 13-6 Loss to Comets - Albuquerque Isotopes
- Tacoma Rainiers Game Notes - at Reno - Tacoma Rainiers
- OKC Comets Game Notes - March 28, 2026 - Oklahoma City Comets
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