Sugar Land Records Season High In Hits But Drops Back-and-Forth Contest

SUGAR LAND RECORDS SEASON HIGH IN HITS BUT DROPS BACK-AND-FORTH CONTEST

SUGAR LAND, TX – The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (5-8) mashed five extra-base hits on Friday, including two home runs, but dropped their second straight to the Albuquerque Isotopes (6-7) 8-4 at Constellation Field.

Sugar Land fell behind 2-0 after Braxton Fulford’s two-out, two-RBI double in the second, but responded in the home half. Collin Price rifled a single to center, César Salazar moved him into scoring position with a base knock of his own before Kenedy Corona drove home the first Sugar Land run with a two-out liner back up the middle, plating Price from second.

Melton knotted the contest up at two in the third, clobbering his first home run of the campaign with a 381-foot blast that zipped 107 mph off his bat.

LHP Brandon Walter settled in during the middle innings retiring six-straight batters in the third and fourth before Sugar Land took their first lead. Corona kept the inning alive with a two-out walk and Luis Guillorme drilled a full-count offering into left, bringing in the Space Cowboys right-fielder to give Sugar Land a 3-2 lead. Walter induced a ground out to the first batter he faced in the fifth, ending his night by setting down the last seven Isotopes he faced.

RHP Misael Tamarez (L, 0-1) came on in relief and allowed a three-run home run to Ryan Ritter, but the Space Cowboys answered immediately when Melton went yard for the second time, his first-multi homer game of 2025, pulverizing a breaking ball 393 feet to right field.

RHP Kaleb Ort made his second appearance in Sugar Land as part of his rehab assignment and twirled one shutout frame with one strikeout on nine pitches, seven strikes.

The Isotopes added insurance runs in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk and a passed ball, pushing their lead to 7-4.

Brice Matthews, Melton and Shay Whitcomb all drew walks in Sugar Land’s next opportunity at the plate, loading the bases with nobody out, but a strikeout and double play extinguished the threat.

Corona doubled in the eighth and Matthews walked in the ninth, but the Space Cowboys were unable to bring in another run in their 8-4 defeat.

NOTABLE:

• Luis Guillorme extended his on-base streak to 11 games with an RBI single.
• Jacob Melton mashed his first two homer game of the season, and the second of his career in Triple A. Melton recorded his last two homer game August 18, 2024 against the Tacoma Rainiers.
• Collin Price had a career-night as he picked up three hits, his first-career three-hit game in Triple-A. Price has hit safely in six of his last seven games.
• Kaleb Ort topped out at 97.2 MPH, averaging 95.9 on four-seam fastball.
• Kenedy Corona reached base three times on Friday, including a double and a single, his first multi-hit contest of 2025.

With the series tied at two games, Sugar Land takes on Albuquerque for game five on Saturday night. RHP Lance McCullers Jr. gets the ball versus Isotopes RHP Anthony Molina for a 6:05 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.