Whitcomb's Game-Tying Homer Not Enough In Saturday Night Defeat To El Paso
After falling behind 5-2 after six, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1-4, 40-40) plated three runs in the seventh on two home runs, but a solo homer from the El Paso Chihuahuas (4-1, 42-38) in the eighth ended Sugar Land’s comeback bid, 6-5, on Saturday night at Southwest University Park.
After falling behind 5-2 after six, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1-4, 40-40) plated three runs in the seventh on two home runs, but a solo homer from the El Paso Chihuahuas (4-1, 42-38) in the eighth ended Sugar Land’s comeback bid, 6-5, on Saturday night at Southwest University Park.
Trailing 5-2 entering the seventh, the Space Cowboys clobbered three-straight extra-base hits to knot the game up at five. Colin Barber led off the seventh with a 457-foot solo home run, the first Triple-A homer of his career, as Sugar Land pulled within two. After Brice Matthews belted his team-leading fifth triple, Whitcomb smashed a two-run home run to left, tying the game at five.
THE BARBERSHOP HAS HIS FIRST TRIPLE-A HR 🪒🪒 pic.twitter.com/XufopB98lR
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) June 29, 2025
SHAY WHITCOMB.
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) June 29, 2025
LEFT FIELD.
TIED GAME. pic.twitter.com/RksnrvQSeF
El Paso took a late lead in the bottom of the eighth as Clay Dungan hit a lead-off home run as Sugar Land fell behind, 6-5. Shay Whitcomb reached in the top of the ninth on an infield single, his third hit of the game, but a double play and a lineout ended the threat as Sugar Land fell, 6-5.
In the first, Sugar Land took an early lead as Matthews took a lead-off walk, Whitcomb sent a seeing-eye single up the middle and Matthews went first to third. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Luis Castro smoked an RBI single through the left side to give the Space Cowboys a 1-0 advantage.
Although El Paso put two runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the first, RHP Jason Alexander fired back-to-back punchouts to leave the runners stranded and retire the side.
The Chihuahuas tied the game in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from Rodolfo Durán before Yonathan Perlaza hit a solo home run in the home half of the third to put El Paso ahead 2-1.
Alexander left a runner on second with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but the Chihuahuas broke through for three runs in the bottom half of the fifth as Sugar Land faced a 5-1 deficit entering the sixth.
The Space Cowboys chipped away at the Chihuahuas' lead in the top of the sixth. Jesús Bastidas reached on a fielder’s choice, Bryan Lavastida kept the inning alive with a two-out infield single and Zack Short shot an RBI double to left-center, plating Bastidas to make it a 5-2 game.
NOTABLE:
With a triple on Saturday, Brice Matthews is 26-for-70 (.371) in his last 17 games with five doubles, three triples, three home runs, 15 RBI and 10 walks. Matthews is currently on a 17-game on-base streak, the longest active streak on Sugar Land, and a 10-game hitting streak.
Colin Barber cracked the first Triple-A home run of his career with a 457-foot solo shot in the seventh. Barber’s homer was the second-furthest hit ball from a Space Cowboy in 2025.
Shay Whitcomb scorched his 19th homer of the season with a two-run blast that tied the game in the seventh. Whitcomb came into Saturday’s matchup tied for second in the PCL in home runs. Whitcomb has back-to-back games of three hits after going 3-for-5 on Saturday and has nine three-hit games on the year.
Luis Castro extended his on-base streak to nine games by going 1-for-5 on Saturday. Over the course of his streak, Castro has a double, two homers, seven RBI, six walks and seven runs scored.
Sugar Land has scored a run in the first inning in four of their five games against El Paso this week, after plating a run in the first on Saturday, and are outscoring the Chihuahuas 8-2 in the frame.
After being activated from the IL on Saturday, Logan VanWey made his first appearance since May 21 and went 1.0 scoreless inning with a strikeout.
Sugar Land caps off their series against the El Paso Chihuahuas on Sunday at 7:05 pm CT. RHP AJ Blubaugh makes his second start this week against LHP Omar Cruz. 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.
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 playing 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.