OKC Comets Game Notes - September 11, 2025
Published on September 11, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release
Sacramento River Cats (37-28/73-67)
at Oklahoma City Comets (32-33/78-62)
Game #141 of 150/Second Half #66 of 75/Home #72 of 75
Pitching Probables: SAC-LHP John Michael Bertrand (NR, -.--) vs. OKC-RHP Kyle Funkhouser (2-3, 6.62)
Thursday, September 11, 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, SportsNet LA
Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Comets seek back-to-back wins and the series lead when they continue their series against the Sacramento River Cats at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The Comets have won two of the last three games and are tied with the River Cats, 1-1, in the current series...Oklahoma City has four home games and 10 total games remaining in 2025...The Comets are taking the field all week as Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City as part of MiLB's "Copa de la Diversión."
Last Game: Kody Hoese homered and drove in three runs, and the Oklahoma City Comets hit four triples and notched 17 strikeouts in a 5-1 win against the Sacramento River Cats Wednesday afternoon at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Comets scored three runs in the second inning and built a 5-0 lead through four innings. Hoese lined a two-run double to the wall in center field to put the Comets in front, 2-0, in the second inning. Later in the inning, Esteury Ruiz hit a RBI triple that brought in Hoese for a 3-0 advantage. Hoese hit his seventh home run of the season out to the Comets' bullpen in left-center field in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead. Ruiz knocked his second triple of the game later in the inning and went on to score on a balk for a 5-0 edge. Oklahoma City pitchers tossed eight scoreless innings and racked up 17 strikeouts before Bryce Eldridge hit a RBI single for the River Cats in the ninth inning.
Today's Probable Pitcher: Kyle Funkhouser (2-3) makes his 11th start and 16th appearance with the Comets...He most recently pitched Sept. 4 in Sugar Land, tossing 4.0 innings for his longest outing since late July. He allowed two runs on two hits with a hit by pitch, a season-high four walks and two strikeouts and did not factor into the decision of OKC's 7-3 defeat...Funkhouser was placed on the Injured List Aug. 12-20 and tonight will be his fourth start since his return...Between June 26-July 29, Funkhouser posted a 1.96 ERA over six outings (23.0 IP), allowing six runs (five earned) and 19 hits, holding opponents 19-for-84 (.226) with 25 K's...He signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in late May after spending time with the Guerreros de Oaxaca of the Mexican League where he made seven appearances...Funkhouser missed the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and played five games with Double-A Frisco in the Texas Rangers organization in June 2023 between stints on the Injured List...Funkhouser was drafted by Detroit in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of the University of Louisville and made 70 appearances with Detroit from 2020-21.
Against the River Cats: 2025: 10-7 2024: 4-8 All-time: 74-70 At OKC: 34-37
The Comets and River Cats play their fourth and final series this season and second at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark...The teams most recently met for a three-game series in Sacramento July 18-20, which the Comets swept...Oklahoma City won a series between the teams June 24-29 at Sutter Health Park, 4-2, after the River Cats won the first series between the teams May 20-25 in OKC, 4-2, for the Comets' first series loss of 2025...Through the first 15 meetings, Esteury Ruiz paced OKC with 17 hits and scored 14 runs while Ryan Ward racked up 17 RBI and four home runs...The teams are scheduled to 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 an opponent this season...Sacramento won the 2024 series between the teams, 8-4. The River Cats outscored OKC, 55-35, and outhit OKC, 112-88...Since OKC became affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the River Cats with the San Francisco Giants in 2015, OKC has a 42-34 advantage in the Triple-A version of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry...Sacramento is currently in second place in the second-half PCL standings, trailing first-place Tacoma by 4.0 games.
Trending Up?: The Comets have now won two of the last three games following a season-high stretch of five straight losses...Oklahoma City is now 3-7 in the last 10 games, 4-10 in the last 14 games, 5-12 in the last 17 games and 6-13 in the last 19 games...The Comets improved to 32-33 in the second half with Wednesday's win, but after starting the half 10-4, OKC is 22-29 since and 0-3-3 in the last six series...The Comets have fallen into third place in the overall PCL standings at 78-62 after they had held at least a share of first place every day from July 20-Sept. 3. After tying their season high at 25 games above .500 (63-38) following a win in Reno July 26, the Comets are 15-24 since...Tonight the Comets are aiming for their first consecutive wins since Aug. 17 at home against Albuquerque and Aug. 19 at Tacoma. They have followed up each of their five wins since then with a loss.
Extra! Extra!: Six of Oklahoma City's eight hits in Wednesday's game went for extra bases as the Comets hit four triples, a home run and a double. It was OKC's first game with four triples since Aug. 23, 2014 against El Paso. Oklahoma City is also the first team in the PCL this season with four triples and only the second PCL to hit four triples in a game during the last four seasons...OKC's six extra-base hits were the most by the team since Aug. 19 in Tacoma when the Comets had eight...The Comets have hit five home runs over the last three games and nine homers over the last seven games.
Running with Ruiz: Esteury Ruiz went 2-for-4 with two triples, a RBI and scored a run yesterday. Over the first two games of the Sacramento series, Ruiz is 6-for-9 with three triples and two RBI...Wednesday was his first game with two triples since May 5, 2018 with Single-A Fort Wayne against Wisconsin. He is the first OKC player with two triples in a game since James Outman did it Aug. 26, 2022 when he hit for the cycle against El Paso...On Tuesday, Ruiz recorded his 57th stolen base of the season with Oklahoma City to set a new single-season OKC Bricktown-era record (since 1998). With the stolen base, he surpassed Freddy Guzman's 56 stolen bases in 2007. Ruiz leads the PCL with 58 stolen bases, including one with Las Vegas at the start of the season. He has the most steals in the league since Fresno's Tyler Graham had 60 in 2011...Ruiz has reached base in 36 of his last 37 games with OKC and his .416 OBP ranks second in the league.
On Strike: Comets pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts in Wednesday's game as Oklahoma City has now recorded a total of 35 strikeouts through the first two games of the series against Sacramento, including a season-high 18 K's Tuesday. The 18 strikeouts in the series opener were the most strikeouts in a game for an OKC team since a 3-2 loss in Tacoma Aug. 13, 2023 when OKC also had 18 strikeouts...Yesterday was the sixth time in the last seven games the Comets' pitching staff finished with double-digit strikeouts (89 K). OKC's 1,320 K's this season are most in the PCL and second-most in Triple-A.
Home Repairs Needed: The Comets improved to 36-35 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark yesterday, but have an 8-16 record in their last 24 home games. Oklahoma City is 12-17 at home during the second half of the season after posting a 24-18 record in the first half. The Comets' 12 home wins during the second half are second-fewest in the league (Reno, 9-26)...During the current 8-16 stretch, the Comets have not won consecutive home games within the same series and just once across series during the 24 games...The Comets are 0-3-1 over the last four home series and last won a home series - a three-game set - July 4-6 against Las Vegas, 2-1. OKC last won a six-game home series June 17-22 against Round Rock, 5-1...Oklahoma City's 64 home runs at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark are the fewest by a PCL team at home this season, while OKC's .257 AVG, 387 runs (5.5 rpg) and 597 hits are all fourth-lowest by a PCL team at home in 2025...Over the last 24 games in Bricktown, the pitching staff has allowed 155 runs (6.5 rpg), with at least six runs in 15 of the 24 games. Opponents have tallied at least one inning of three-plus runs in 18 of the 24 games (23 total).
Vamos Ramos: Jose Ramos finished with a game-high three hits Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with a triple, and marking his most hits in a game with the Comets this season. Over his last three games he is 6-for-13 with a home run, two triples and two RBI and has now hit safely in each of his last four games with a plate appearance, going 7-for-17 with one extra-base hit in each game. He also has five XBH over his last six games (2 HR, 2 3B, 1 2B).
Around the Horn: Kody Hoese finished with a game-high three RBI yesterday, going 2-for-4 with a home run and a double. He hit his seventh home run of the season and his third homer in his last 11 games. Hoese also now has 15 RBI over his last 11 games...OKC native Andrew Heaney started and made his first appearance with the Comets of the season yesterday, recording eight strikeouts over three innings while retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced...Yesterday was the third time in the last four games the Comets held an opponent to two runs or less. That matches the total number of games with two or less runs allowed in the 43 games prior to Saturday.
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