Tibbs Hits Three Home Runs, but Comets Fall to Aviators 8-5

James Tibbs III put his name in the record books Saturday at Las Vegas Ballpark, hitting three solo home runs in a 4-for-5 performance that marked the first three-homer game in Minor League Baseball in 2026 and the 14th of its kind in Oklahoma City's Bricktown era. It wasn't enough. The Comets lost to the Aviators 8-5, undone by a five-run stretch from the fifth inning through the sixth that erased every advantage Tibbs had built.

Oklahoma City got off to a clean start. Noah Miller put the Comets on the board first with a two-run blast in the second inning, and Tibbs added a solo shot in the third to push the lead to 3-0. Las Vegas answered with a three-run fourth to even the score at 3-3, but Tibbs' second homer in the fifth restored a 4-3 Comets lead and appeared to swing the game back in OKC's favor.

Then Junior Perez stepped up with two outs and a full count in the bottom of the fifth and laced an RBI single that handed Las Vegas a 5-4 lead. The Aviators never looked back. In the sixth, Michael Stefanic hit a solo homer and Colby Thomas followed with a two-run double, stretching the lead to 8-4 and effectively closing the door on Oklahoma City's comeback chances.

Tibbs pulled the Comets within three with his third homer in the seventh, but it stood as the team's final hit of the night. OKC went cold across the final two innings, leaving five runs on the board as the final total.

The performance added to an already remarkable stretch for the Comets outfielder, who entered Saturday with five home runs across the first five games of the series and seven home runs over his last six games. At one point during the series sample, Tibbs was hitting .514, with hits recorded in each of his first eight starts of the season. He also contributed defensively, throwing out Joey Meneses at the plate during the fourth inning to prevent what could have been an even earlier Aviators lead.

For Oklahoma City, Miller contributed a solid multi-hit night at 2-for-4, but the supporting cast offered little after the seventh. River Ryan made his season debut on the mound, turning in four innings with three runs allowed and six strikeouts; it was his first official appearance since August 10, 2024, making the outing significant regardless of the outcome.

The broader series picture carries its own warning signs for OKC: the Aviators hit at least one home run in every game of the six-game set, and the Comets' late-inning offensive drought has been a recurring feature. Tibbs' power surge will draw attention from evaluators at the parent-club level, but three solo shots can only do so much against a Las Vegas lineup that proved it could manufacture runs in bunches when it mattered.