Lance McCullers Jr.'s Four-Scoreless Frames Lift Sugar Land To Victory

Space Cowboys Mash Two Homes Runs in Win

By Jordan Silversmith / Space Cowboys

April 12, 2025

Powered by eight combined shutout innings from RHP Lance McCullers Jr. and RHP AJ Blubaugh and two, two-run home runs, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (6-8) defeated the Albuquerque Isotopes (6-8) 6-2 on Saturday night at Constellation Field. McCullers Jr. marveled on the mound in his second appearance with Sugar

Powered by eight combined shutout innings from RHP Lance McCullers Jr. and RHP AJ Blubaugh and two, two-run home runs, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (6-8) defeated the Albuquerque Isotopes (6-8) 6-2 on Saturday night at Constellation Field.

McCullers Jr. marveled on the mound in his second appearance with Sugar Land as part of his rehab assignment. The two-time World Series champion tossed four scoreless innings on 61 pitches with five strikeouts, one hit and one walk. He averaged 91 mph on his sinker, topping out at 93.2, while throwing a five-pitch mix.

In his first inning of work, the righty twirled a 1-2-3 frame, with one strikeout. He continued pounding the zone in the second, punching out the side on 14 pitches, including one batter looking.

✨ LMJ striking out the side, Saturday edition ✨#Ascend pic.twitter.com/Rl98OyzKyt
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) April 12, 2025

Sugar Land jumped on the Isotopes in the home half of the first. Luis Guillorme walked, and Brice Matthews and Shay Whitcomb each reached base with infield singles, bringing Collin Price to the plate with the bases loaded. Sugar Land’s first baseman muscled a 2-2 offering into shallow center field, giving Sugar Land an early 1-0 advantage.

The Space Cowboys ambushed Albuquerque for three runs in the third. Whitcomb extended the lead with an extra base-hit, as a 110-mph double brought home Jacob Melton from first. On the ensuing at-bat, Price pounded an off-speed offering over the high wall in left for his second home run of the season, stretching the Sugar Land edge to 4-0.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT!! ☄️#Ascend pic.twitter.com/nR2u4xLcYm
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) April 12, 2025

McCullers Jr. maneuvered around a single in the third and a walk in the fourth to post four consecutive shutout innings.

RHP Forrest Whitley (W, 1-0) made his second rehab appearance in Sugar Land, relieving McCullers Jr. in the fifth, but allowed two Isotopes to score, throwing 20 pitches, 13 strikes.

Sugar Land took those runs right back in the home half as Quincy Hamilton walked and Zack Short smoked a two-out blast to left, his second of the year, pushing the Space Cowboy lead to 6-2.

There was NOTHING short about this ball 😳#Ascend pic.twitter.com/5fEcwt9PHq
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) April 13, 2025

Blubaugh (S,1) flung the final four innings, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, before setting down nine of his last ten batters, striking out seven of the last nine Isotopes he faced.

NOTABLE:

Zack Short finished Saturday night a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. It was his first three-hit game since June 21, 2023 with Detroit against the Kansas City Royals.
Luis Guillorme extended his on-base streak to 12 games with a single and a walk.
With a single in the first and a home run in the third, Collin Price recorded his third straight multi-hit game. He also extended his on-base streak to eight games, going 12-for-27 (.444/.545) with a double, a triple, two home runs, six RBI, seven runs scored and six walks.
Lance McCullers Jr. threw his longest outing in 2025 with 4.0 innings pitched tonight. He hurled 2.0 innings on March 30 against the Oklahoma City Comets and 1.2 innings with Corpus Christi on April 5.
Shay Whitcomb reached base safely for the seventh straight game with a single in the first and a double in the third.
Forrest Whitley topped out at 97.9 mph with a sinker and averaged 96 mph.
AJ Blubaugh heaved a 97.4 mph fastball for a strikeout to end the Isotope’s seventh against Owen Miller. It registered as the second-fastest tracked pitch in Blubaugh’s Triple-A career after he threw a 97.7 mph fastball to Miller earlier in the at-bat for a ball.

Leading the series 3-2, Sugar Land closes out their six-game set against Albuquerque on Sunday afternoon. RHP Miguel Ullola takes the mound opposite Isotopes LHP Jack O’Loughlin for a 2:05 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.