Whitcomb, Matthews and Melton All Homer in Space Cowboys Opener
PCL Sugar Land Space Cowboys

Whitcomb, Matthews and Melton All Homer in Space Cowboys Opener

Published on September 17, 2025 under Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys News Release


SUGAR LAND, TX - RHP Tyler Ivey hurled 5.2 innings and three of their top four hitters homered, but the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (32-37, 71-73) fell 5-3 to the El Paso Chihuahuas (40-29, 78-66) in the opening game of their six-game series on Tuesday night at Constellation Field.

Shay Whitcomb put the Space Cowboys on the board first with a solo homer to left, his 25 th of the season, giving Sugar Land an early 1-0 lead.

El Paso was able to tie it up in the top of the second on a double by Tirso Ornelas and a sacrifice fly from Marcos Castanon. The Chihuahuas went ahead in the third when Francisco Acuna hit a solo homer to left, and Yonathan Perlaza singled in another run to make it 3-1 El Paso.

Ivey settled in after the base hit by Perlaza in the third, allowing just three more hits. The righty struck out five straight batters from the fifth through the sixth, but a two-out walk ended his night. However, RHP Alimber Santa came on and got a lineout to strand Ivey's inherited runner.

The Space Cowboys got Ivey off the hook thanks to a solo home run by Brice Matthews in the third and a game-tying homer by Jacob Melton to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Melton kept the game tied in the top of the seventh when he threw out Perlaza trying to score from second on a two-out hit, keeping the maintaining the 3-3 deadlock.

El Paso was able to take the lead in the eighth on a two-RBI hit from Clay Dungan, giving the Chihuahuas a 5-3 advantage. RHP Manuel Castro (H, 6) threw a 1-2-3 eighth for the Chihuahuas and RHP Sean Reynolds (S, 6) was summoned for the ninth. Jon Singleton walked to start the inning and was replaced by pinch runner Kenedy Corona. A one-out walk to César Salazar put the potential tying run on, and the Space Cowboys executed a double steal to bring the tying run into scoring position. However, a pair of flyouts stranded the runners and ended the game.

NOTABLE:

- With 5.2 innings on Tuesday night, RHP Tyler Ivey reached 122.0 innings pitched this year with the Space Cowboys, extending his career high in a single season. Ivey also reached 102 strikeouts by punching out five on Tuesday night.

- Brice Matthews and Jacob Melton both homered for a second consecutive game with longballs in the third and sixth respectively. Since being optioned to Sugar Land on September 6, Melton is batting .333 (7-for-21) with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI, six runs scored and four stolen bases in six games.

- Shay Whitcomb connected for a solo homer in the first, his 25 th home run of the season. That moves him into a tie with C Luis Campusano of El Paso for the second most home runs in the Pacific Coast League.

- With three home runs on Tuesday night, the Space Cowboys have now homered in 17 of their last 20 games, connecting for 33 homers in that span, the most in Minor League Baseball.

Sugar Land continues their last series of the season on Wednesday night. RHP Joey Mancini is scheduled to make his first start for Sugar Land opposite RHP Victor Lizarraga for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch at Constellation Field. 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

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from September 17, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central