McCullers Jr. Earns Win in Major League Rehab Start on Friday
PCL Sugar Land Space Cowboys

McCullers Jr. Earns Win in Major League Rehab Start on Friday

Published on August 15, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys News Release


SUGAR LAND, TX - RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (W, 1-0) and RHP AJ Blubaugh (S,2) combined for 9.0 innings of two-run ball with nine strikeouts to shut down the Salt Lake Bees (20-23, 49-68) and help the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (16-24, 55-60) tie their series against the Bees with a 6-2 win on Friday night at Constellation Field.

Although Salt Lake had their first two batters reach base, McCullers Jr. sidestepped the runners by inducing a 5-4-3 double play and a lineout to post a scoreless top half to the first. In the bottom of the first, back-to-back infield singles from Edwin Díaz and Brice Matthews put two on with nobody out. However, a double play and a lineout stranded the runners.

After McCullers Jr. left a runner in scoring position in the top of the second with an inning-ending strikeout, the Space Cowboys had two runners on for the second-straight inning, but were unable to bring them in.

The Bees scored a run in the top of the third to go up, 1-0, but McCullers Jr. limited the damage with back-to-back strikeouts to retire the side. In the bottom half, Sugar Land took their first lead with a two-run homer from Jon Singleton that he snuck inside the right-field foul pole to put the Space Cowboys ahead, 2-1.

Sugar Land extended their advantage in the bottom of the fourth. Collin Price reached base on an error and Díaz walked before Matthews roped a two-RBI triple down the right-field line to stretch the Space Cowboys' margin, 4-1.

McCullers Jr. fired his first clean inning of the game with a 1-2-3 top of the fourth and closed out his outing with a scoreless top of the fifth with two strikeouts in the frame. The righty went 5.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Blubaugh entered the contest in the top of the sixth and struck out two batters in the frame but allowed a run to score as Salt Lake made it a 4-2 game. The Space Cowboys answered in the home half of the sixth as Kenedy Corona was hit by a pitch, and in the ensuing at-bat, Díaz drilled a two-run homer to left, doubling Sugar Land's lead to 6-2.

Blubaugh stranded two runners in scoring position in the seventh to post a zero and tossed a scoreless eighth by working around a two-out walk. The right-hander hurled a perfect ninth to close out the Space Cowboys' 6-2 win and picked up his second save of the season with 4.0 relief innings of one-run ball.

NOTABLE:

- Lance McCullers Jr. went 5.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts on 80 pitches with 46 strikes. Friday was the first time since July 11 against the Texas Rangers that McCullers Jr. threw 80 pitches or more with five strikeouts. The right-hander averaged 2,996 RPM on his knuckle curve and topped out at 3,143 rpm.

- Jon Singleton launched a two-run homer in the third inning, his fifth as a Space Cowboy and first since July 12 against the Oklahoma City Comets when he blasted two home runs in the game. Singleton is currently on a four-game hitting streak.

- Edwin Díaz sent a towering two-run homer to left in the sixth, his fourth home run of the season and his first since July 13 against the Oklahoma City Comets.

- AJ Blubaugh picked up his 100th strikeout on Friday, his second-straight season with 100 or more punchouts. Blubaugh has allowed only one run in his last two games across 10.0 innings and earned his second save of the season on Friday.

- With a 2-for-5 game with a triple and two RBI, Brice Matthews has reached base in 33 of his last 35 games with Sugar Land, going 45-143 (.315) with 10 doubles, four triples, six homers, 22 RBI and 18 walks. Matthews recorded his first triple since June 28 against the El Paso Chihuahuas and came into Friday's game ranked tied for sixth in the PCL in triples.

- Logan Davidson recorded two walks and a run scored on Friday while extending his on-base streak to eight games, with two doubles, two homers, four RBI, six walks and six runs scored.

- César Salazar extended his on-base streak to 16 games with a 1-for-3 night on Friday with a walk. Over his on-base streak, Salazar has two doubles, three homers, nine RBI, 12 walks and nine runs scored.

The penultimate game of Sugar Land's six-game series against Salt Lake begins on Saturday at 7:05 pm CT. RHP Tyler Ivey takes the ball versus RHP Caden Dana. 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 August 15, 2025


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