Mederos Impresses, Space Cowboys Capture Pitcher's Duel

SOUTH JORDAN, UT. - The Salt Lake Bees dropped the pitcher's duel on Thursday night as a combined 24 strikeouts from both pitching staffs resulted in a 5-1 edge from the Sugar Land Space Cowboys who took a 2-1 lead in the series.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys 5, Salt Lake Bees 1

WP: Miguel Ullola (2 - 2)

LP: Victor Mederos (1 - 1)

Game Summary

Offense was hard to come by early Thursday night, as both teams combined for just one hit through the first three innings and 10 consecutive batters were retired before Carter Kieboom broke through with Salt Lake’s first hit in the fourth.

Starters Miguel Ullola (Sugar Land) and Victor Mederos (Salt Lake) were dominant, combining for 11 strikeouts through the first four innings while allowing just one hit apiece. Sugar Land managed to get five runners on base during that stretch, while Salt Lake had only two.

The Space Cowboys finally broke the scoreless tie in the sixth. Brice Matthews led off with a walk and stole second, setting the stage for Jesus Bastidas, who knocked a ground ball through the right side to bring Matthews home and give Sugar Land a 1-0 lead.

They added two more runs in the seventh when Quincy Hamilton launched his second home run of the series, extending the lead to 3-0.

Salt Lake showed signs of life in the bottom of the eighth. Tucker Flint sparked the offense with a leadoff triple to right, becoming the first Bee to reach third base all night. Yolmer Sánchez followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 3-1 and shift some momentum toward the home side.

However, that momentum quickly faded. Matthew Lugo grounded into a double play, and Niko Kavadas lined out to right to end the inning.

Sugar Land put the game out of reach in the ninth, as four consecutive batters reached base via walk or hit-by-pitch, leading to two more runs and a 5-1 lead.

J.D. Davis doubled to left in the bottom of the ninth, but Salt Lake couldn’t mount a rally and dropped the series opener.

Game Notes

• The Salt Lake Bees dropped their second straight game on Thursday night, falling behind 2-1 in the series against Sugar Land as their record dipped to 15-20 on the season.
• The Bees' offense continued to sputter, matching their third-lowest hit total of the year with just five hits—equaling their output from April 22 against Oklahoma City. Despite outhitting the Space Cowboys 5-4, Salt Lake was held to just one run for the second time this season and remains winless (0-12) when scoring three runs or fewer.
• Both pitching staffs were dominant, combining for 24 strikeouts. The Salt Lake staff reached double-digit strikeouts for the 16th time this season, while the offense struggled with the bats, striking out 14 times—its third-highest single-game total of the year.
• Victor Mederos was sharp in the loss, tossing five scoreless innings for the second straight outing and finishing with one run allowed on two hits. He also recorded a season-high seven strikeouts across a Triple-A career-best six innings. The two hits allowed marked the second-fewest in his Minor League career in outings of at least five innings, trailing only his one-hit performance on June 9, 2023, with Rocket City.
• J.D. Davis led the Bees' offense with a 2-for-4 night, notching his fifth multi-hit game of the season and smacking his second double of the year—one of only two Salt Lake extra-base hits.
• Tucker Flint continued his hot streak, going 1-for-3 with a run scored. He tripled for the first time at the Triple-A level—his first three-bagger since August 16, 2024, with Rocket City. Through three games in the series, Flint is batting .500 with a team-high four RBIs and a 1.795 OPS. He and Carter Kieboom are the only Bees to homer in the series so far.
• Kieboom extended his hitting streak to three games, collecting his team-best sixth hit of the series. The infielder continues to impress, boasting the second-highest batting average in the Pacific Coast League at .347, while also ranking in the top five in both slugging percentage and OPS.
• Yolmer Sánchez drove in the Bees' lone run of the night with a single up the middle in the eighth inning. He finished 1-for-3 and recorded his second RBI of the series and sixth of the season.

Up Next

The Salt Lake Bees will look to even the series on Friday night as Shaun Anderson will take the mound for Salt Lake and will face Colton Gordon who brings in a 3-0 record with a 2.48 ERA as first pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. at The Ballpark at America First Square.