Early Deficit Too Much To Overcome For Sugar Land on Thursday

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (5-7) fell behind 6-0 after three innings and could not mount a comeback, falling to the the Albuquerque Isotopes (5-7) 7-2 on Thursday night.

RHP Aaron Brown (L, 0-3) toed the rubber and dazzled in his first inning of work, striking out the side on 18 pitches. Sugar Land threatened in the home half as Jesús Bastidas was hit by a pitch, Luis Guillorme laced a line drive to center before the two executed a double steal, putting two men in scoring position with one out. However, LHP Carson Palmquist (W, 1-1) struck out a pair of batters to keep Sugar Land off the board.

The Isotopes broke through in the second as Sterlin Thompson blasted his first home run of the year, a two-out, two-run shot. Albuquerque posted a four-spot in the third, including a three-run roundertripper from Yanquiel Fernandez, stretching the deficit to 6-0.

Sugar Land scratched its first run across in the bottom of the fourth as Shay Whitcomb led off the frame with a double roped down the line in left and Collin Price drove him home with a base knock up the middle.

In the home half of the sixth, the Space Cowboys whittled away at the deficit. Guillorme led off the frame with a walk, Whitcomb legged out an infield single and Price muscled a bloop single into center, loading the bases with nobody out. Kenedy Corona bolted down first-base line to beat out a fielder’s choice and plate Guillorme from third.

RHP Rhett Kouba tossed three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, his longest appearance of the 2025 campaign, working out of a two on, one out jam in the seventh to hang three consecutive zeros.

A solo-shot from Austin Nola in the eight tacked on another run for Albuquerque and the Space Cowboys were sat down in order the final three frames.

NOTABLE:

• Luis Guillorme extended his on-base streak to ten games with a single and two walks.
• RHP Rhett Kouba’s 3.0 scoreless innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh was his longest outing of the season, and his longest appearance since August 17, 2024 against the Tacoma Rainiers.
• Collin Price recorded his second two-hit contest in his last three games and has registered a hit in five of his last six games.

Up 2-1 in the series, Sugar Land plays game four in their six-game set with Albuquerque on Friday night. LHP Brandon Walter will get the ball against Isotopes RHP Tanner Gordon for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch. The game can be seen live on the Bally Sports Live App or MLB.TV and can be heard anywhere at SLSpaceCowboys.com. Season Memberships for the 2025 Space Cowboy season, including Full and Partial Season membership plans, can be purchased online here.

ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS:

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They are the reigning Pacific Coast League Champions and Triple-A National Champions. They began play as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans for 2025 by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.