History as Matthews Swipes 40th Base to Help Sugar Land to Friday Night Win
PCL Sugar Land Space Cowboys

History as Matthews Swipes 40th Base to Help Sugar Land to Friday Night Win

Published on September 19, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys News Release


SUGAR LAND, TX - A night after tying the single-season record, INF Brice Matthews swiped his 39th and 40th bases of the season to become the Space Cowboys single-season franchise record holder as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (33-39, 72-75) came back to take down the El Paso Chihuahuas (42-30, 80-67) 8-5 on Friday night at Constellation Field. Highlights of tonight's game can be [?Folder icon] found here.

With the game tied at 5-5 headed to the eighth, RHP Matt Bowman (W, 1-2) returned for his first full inning of work out of the bullpen. The righty struck out Trenton Brooks looking and had Tirso Ornelas canceled out on a caught stealing before striking out Rodolfo Duran to turn in a scoreless top of the frame.

Jacob Melton vaulted the Space Cowboys in front on a solo homer to left to begin the bottom of the eighth, putting Sugar Land up 6-5. Matthews then worked a one-out walk and stole second on the first pitch to Jon Singleton, breaking Pedro León's single-season record for steals. Matthews then swiped third and scored on a single to right by Singleton, adding to Sugar Land's lead. César Salazar was hit by a pitch with two outs and Colin Barber banged a double off the right-field wall, scoring Singleton to push the Space Cowboys ahead, 8-5. RHP Tayler Scott (S, 3) came on in the ninth and sat the side down in order for Sugar Land to secure the victory.

El Paso scored first in the top of the third inning when Ripken Reyes walked with one out and scored on an opposite-field double from Yonathan Perlaza, putting El Paso up 1-0. It was the only run allowed by RHP Cody Bolton over a season-best 4.2 innings as the righty struck out six.

Speed helped the Space Cowboys tie the game in the bottom of the fourth when Melton walked, stole second and tagged up to third on a flyout to deep center before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Matthews. Edwin Díaz put Sugar Land in front in the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer down the left-field line, making it 2-1 Space Cowboys.

The Chihuahuas responded with a pair of runs in the sixth on back-to-back two-out singles, moving in front 3-2. In his third at bat of the night, Zach Dezenzo cranked a game-tying solo homer to left on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the sixth. Melton singled in the ensuing at bat and Shay Whitcomb sent him to third on a base hit to the gap of his own, chasing RHP Matt Waldron. Matthews tucked a double inside of third, allowing both runners to score and give Sugar Land the lead again at 5-3.

Ornelas led off the top of the seventh with a bunt single but RHP Alimber Santa (BS, 1) struck out the next hitter, and after a walk, got Marcos Castañon to groundout. However, two more walks and a hit batter forced in the tying run. Bowman was brought in with the bases loaded and two outs, and the right-hander struck out Perlaza looking to preserve the tie game and set the stage for Sugar Land's eighth-inning rally.

NOTABLE:

- With his two stolen bases in the eighth inning, Brice Matthews has set a new single-season Space Cowboys record for stolen bases with 40. He breaks Pedro León's mark of 38 steals from 2022. The former first-round pick is 9-for-12 in stolen base tries in September and has swiped a base in three consecutive games. Matthews finished the night 1-for-2 with a double, three RBI, a run scored and two stolen bases.

- After being assigned to Sugar Land on Major League rehab on Friday, designated hitter Zach Dezenzo went 1-for-4 with a home run. While StatCast did not have an estimated distance, Dezenzo's game-tying homer in the sixth left his bat at 110.6 mph.

- Jacob Melton went 2-for-3 with a home run, an RBI, three runs scored, a stolen base and a walk on Friday night. He has now homered in three of his last five games and hit safely in seven of his last nine appearances with Sugar Land. In the month of September with the Space Cowboys, Melton is 10-for-30 (.333) with three doubles, three home runs, six RBI, nine runs scored, seven walks, five strikeouts and five stolen bases in six attempts.

- Friday night's game had four ties and five lead changes, and the Space Cowboys hit two go-ahead home runs and a game-tying homer.

- With three more home runs on Friday night, the Space Cowboys have now homered in 19 of their last 23 games, launching 37 home runs, the most in the Pacific Coast League and the most in Minor League Baseball during that stretch.

- Cody Bolton's 4.2 innings on Friday was his longest outing of the season and the longest appearance for him since June 2, 2022 with Indianapolis against Omaha (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K).

The Space Cowboys play their final night game of 2025 on Saturday evening. LHP Trey Dombroski is scheduled to toe the slab against LHP Jackson Wolf for a 7:05 pm 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.

Check out the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 19, 2025


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