OKC Comets Game Notes - May 21, 2025
May 21, 2025 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Sacramento River Cats (22-24) at Oklahoma City Comets (28-18)
Game #47 of 150/First Half #47 of 75/Home #26 of 75
Pitching Probables: SAC-RHP Carson Seymour (1-5, 3.89) vs. OKC-RHP Nick Frasso (3-0, 4.31)
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 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 will look to even their series against the Sacramento River Cats at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark after the River Cats won Tuesday's series opener...The Comets have lost back-to-back games as well as four of their last six games. The Comets are 6-9 over the last 15 games following a 22-9 start.
Last Game: The Sacramento River Cats jumped out to an 8-0 lead and went on to defeat the Oklahoma City Comets, 11-5, Tuesday night in the series opener between the teams at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The River Cats scored five runs in the second inning, including a bases-clearing double by Grant McCray. Sacramento added three more runs in the third inning, including a two-run home run by Logan Porter. The Comets chipped away at the Sacramento lead with a RBI single by Esteury Ruiz in the third inning and solo home run by Michael Chavis in the fourth inning. After Sacramento added two runs in the fifth inning and another in the eighth inning for an 11-2 advantage, the Comets scored the final three runs of the game, including a RBI double by Ryan Ward in the eighth inning.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Nick Frasso (3-0) makes his fifth straight start, seventh start overall and 10th appearance with OKC this season...Frasso most recently pitched May 15 in Round Rock, equaling his season-high mark with four runs allowed and five hits, including a home run, hit by pitch, two walks and four strikeouts over 5.0 innings. The outing tied his longest of the season and he did not factor into the decision of Round Rock's 6-5 walk-off win in 10 innings...He last tossed 5.0 innings May 2 against El Paso and did not allow a run as he helped lead the way in OKC's 10-0 shutout victory...Frasso served as OKC's Opening Night starter in Sugar Land March 28 for his first official game action since September 2023...Frasso missed the 2024 season after undergoing shoulder surgery...He finished his 2023 season with OKC, making four starts in his first Triple-A stint...Frasso is rated as the Dodgers' No. 17 prospect by Baseball America and came to the Dodgers via an August 2022 trade with Toronto.
Against the River Cats: 2025: 0-1 2024: 4-8 All-time: 64-64 At OKC: 31-33 The Comets and River Cats meet for their first of four series as the teams play a total of 21 games against one another in 2025 - their most ever in a single season since they started playing in 2000 and the most OKC plays against any opponent this season...Sacramento won the 2024 series between the teams, 8-4, as they played 12 games during the first half of last season...Andre Lipcius led OKC with 12 hits, including three homers, while Kody Hoese had six RBI in the 2024 series. The River Cats outscored OKC, 55-35, and outhit OKC, 112-88, last season...Prior to last season, OKC won back-to-back series against Sacramento, going a combined 18-6 in 2022 and 2023. The River Cats are now 9-4 against OKC the last two seasons, including 5-2 in Bricktown...Since OKC became affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the River Cats with the San Francisco Giants in 2015, OKC has a 32-28 advantage in the Triple-A version of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry...Prior to this season, the most times the teams have met in a season was 15 times in 2023.
The Big Picture: With 29 games and five series remaining in the first half of the PCL season, the Comets hold second place overall in the 10-team PCL - 2.5 games behind league-leading Las Vegas, but just a half game ahead of third-place Sugar Land, which has won 11 straight games. The Aviators and Space Cowboys had Tuesday off and begin a six-game series against each other today in Sugar Land. OKC will play in Las Vegas next week...OKC is 5-0-3 through eight series this season but have settled for splits in each of the team's last three series, losing the series finale each time after entering with a 3-2 series lead. The Comets are 2-0-2 through their first four home series...With last night's loss, Oklahoma City has dropped four straight home series opener and fell to 1-4 in home series openers overall this season.
Stuck in a Rut: After defeating El Paso, 10-0, May 2, the Comets stood a season-best 13 games above .500 at 22-9. Since then, the team is 6-9 (3-6 at home), and in five of those nine losses, the Comets led the in eighth inning or later. During that stretch, the Comets are tied with Albuquerque and Salt Lake for the second-fewest wins among PCL teams.
Double Trouble: The River Cats scored 11 runs last night, marking the first time an Oklahoma City opponent finished with double-digit runs since April 30 when El Paso scored 13 runs at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tuesday was also the third time this season overall OKC allowed 11 or more runs in a game - all at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...Five of the River Cats' runs scored in the second inning last night, tying for the most runs allowed by OKC in an inning this season - last occurring in the first inning May 8 against Albuquerque. In four of the last seven home games, the Comets have allowed an inning of four-plus runs. And now in six of the last eight games overall, the Comets have allowed at least one inning of three-plus runs...The River Cats' 15 hits Tuesday were also the most by a Comets opponent this season and most since OKC also allowed 15 hits July 10, 2024 against El Paso...Sacramento went 15-for-42 (.357) overall last night, including 15-for-39 after the first inning. Opponents entered Tuesday batting just .211 this month.
Dean's List: Justin Dean picked up a hit and scored a run Tuesday, as he has now hit safely in seven of his last eight starts, going 11-for-28 (.393). He has scored a run in five straight games - tied for the longest run-scoring streak by a Comets player this season. The last OKC player to score a run in more than five straight games was Drew Avans, who put together a stretch of seven straight games with a run scored Aug. 8-17, 2024...Since May 10, his .393 AVG, .433 OBP, .714 SLG, 1.147 OPS, 20 total bases and six runs scored pace the Comets, while his 11 hits are tied for the most on the team...With three homers this season, including two hit last week in Round Rock, Dean has matched his homer total from all of 2024, spanning 117 games and 452 plate appearances between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett in the Braves organization.
The Warden: Ryan Ward collected his league-leading 54th hit of the season last night with a RBI double. He now has 226 RBI in his Oklahoma City career - four RBI away from tying OKC's Bricktown-era career RBI record of 230 (Jason Botts, 2005-08)...Ward has hit safely in six of his last eight games, batting 11-for-34 (.324) with three doubles, a triple and home run...His 92 total bases are third-most in the league while his .935 OPS is fifth, his 32 runs scored are tied for fifth and his 19 extra-base hits and nine home runs are tied for sixth...He has reached base in 13 straight games to tie his season-best on-base streak, which is also tied for the third-longest by a Comets player this season...Also this season, Ward set OKC's Bricktown era (since 1998) career home run record and has hit 63 homers in his OKC career.
The Flying Comets: OKC has been held without a stolen base in back-to-back games for the second time in the last six games, however in the other two games during that span, the Comets recorded back-to-back games with three steals...The Comets pace the PCL with 67 stolen bases this season - 10 more than second-place El Paso. Over the past four seasons, OKC has not finished higher than sixth in the in the 10-team PCL, and going back further to when the PCL had 16 teams, OKC has not finished within the top half of the league in steals since 2016...OKC finished the 2024 season with 145 steals for the team's most during the Dodgers affiliation (since 2015), but OKC also finished with just 62 stolen bases or less in three of the last six seasons...Esteury Ruiz leads the PCL with 22 steals.
Amending the Second: The second inning has been a tricky inning to navigate recently. Including the five runs by Sacramento last night, opponents have scored 12 runs in the second inning over the last seven games, with at least one run in five of the seven. And in the two games an opponent did not score in the second inning, they had three batters reach base and ultimately left the bases loaded. Since last Tuesday, opponents are batting .400 (14x35) with five extra-base hits and 11 walks during the second inning (.543 OBP). Before last Tuesday, the Comets had allowed a total of seven runs in the second inning over the team's first 39 games.
Around the Horn: Esteury Ruiz finished with the Comets' lone multi-hit game Tuesday, going 2-for-5 with a RBI and run scored. He's 4-for-10 over the last two games...The Comets are 11-for-24 (.458) with runners in scoring position over the last three games...The Comets have hit home runs in back-to-back games and have seven homers over the last five games and nine homers over the last seven games. Overall this season, the Comets' 55 home runs through 46 games are second-most in the PCL...OKC is just 3-for-the-last-14 in ABS challenges. Prior to that, the Comets were operating at a 59.8 percent overturn rate for the season (52/87).
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