After opening the series with back-to-back wins the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (10-5, 42-47) fell to the Albuquerque Isotopes (7-8, 46-44), 6-4 on Thursday night at Constellation Field.
Albuquerque opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, using two singles, a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead. Sugar Land countered in the bottom half of the frame. Cavan Biggio drew a leadoff walk before Joey Loperfido singled, putting runners on the corners. Shay Whitcomb then worked a walk to load the bases before Trenton Brooks drew an RBI walk to bring home the Space Cowboys' first run. Lucas Spence was then hit by a pitch, forcing in the tying run, and Edwin Díaz lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, giving Sugar Land a 3-2 advantage.
The Isotopes reclaimed the lead in the second inning after a leadoff walk put a runner on for Nic Kent who launched his 11th home run of the season making it 4-3. Biggio responded in the bottom half of the inning, launching a home run of his own to even the score at 4-4.
Albuquerque moved back in front in the sixth. A single and a walk put two runners on before an RBI double from Adael Amador gave the Isotopes the 6-4 lead.
The Sugar Land bullpen kept the game within reach over the final four innings. RHP Christian Roa tossed 1.1 scoreless innings while striking out three, RHP Sam Carlson worked a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts and RHP JP France retired the side in order in the ninth with one strikeout. However, the Space Cowboys were unable to mount a late comeback, falling 6-4 in game three of the six-game series.
NOTABLE:
- Cavan Biggio went 1-for-2 with a home run, an RBI, two runs scored and two walks on Thursday night. Biggio has now homered four times in his last eight games against Albuquerque, going 8-for-30 (.267) with a double, four home runs, seven RBI, nine walks and eight runs scored over that span. His home run left the bat at 101.6 mph, the third-hardest hit ball of the game.
- RHP Christian Roa made his second appearance with Sugar Land since re-signing with Houston as a free agent on July 3. Across three appearances with the Space Cowboys this season, Roa has allowed just one run over 3.1 innings, surrendering three hits while walking one and striking out four.
- Joey Loperfido went 2-for-4 with a run scored on Thursday night. Loperfido has now recorded five multi-hit games in his first 12 appearances with Sugar Land this season.
- Lucas Spence went 0-for-2 with an RBI and a walk on Thursday night. Spence has driven in a run in eight of his 14 games with Sugar Land this season and has not gone more than four consecutive games without an RBI. Since joining the Space Cowboys, Spence is batting .283 (13-for-46) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, 11 RBI, seven runs scored and four walks.
- César Salazar worked a walk on Thursday night, extending his on-base streak to 14 games, matching Shay Whitcomb for the longest active on-base streak among current Space Cowboys.
Sugar Land aims to bounce back on Friday night behind LHP Colton Gordon, who is set to face Albuquerque’s LHP Sean Sullivan. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm CT. The game can be seen on the Bally Sports Live app and MiLB.TV and can be heard online anywhere at SLSpaceCowboys.com/Listen.
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 began play as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022, winning their first Triple-A title in 2024 by clinching both the Pacific Coast League Championship and Triple-A National Championship. 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). Season ticket plans for the 2026 season are available now and can be purchased at slspacecowboys.com/tickets.