Hendrickson fans five again, but Sugar Land falls to Albuquerque

Sugar Land got another useful look at Josh Hendrickson, and another reminder that one encouraging arm cannot cover for a crooked inning. The 28-year-old left-hander from Perth, Western Australia, struck out five for the second straight outing, but the Space Cowboys were undone by Albuquerque’s five-run fifth in a 9-3 loss at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park.

Zac Veen put the Isotopes in front early, walking and then driving a two-run homer in the first inning for his 11th home run of the season. Sugar Land answered in the second with a series of pressure plays that briefly flipped the game: Collin Price singled to start the frame, Zach Cole advanced on the bases, Tommy Sacco Jr. reached on an error, Riley Unroe walked, and Cavan Biggio lined an RBI single to right to tie it 2-2.

The tie did not last long. Albuquerque pushed back for two runs in the fourth, then ripped the game open in the fifth with its biggest inning of the night. The Isotopes’ five-run burst came on three singles, two triples, a fielder’s choice and another error, the kind of inning that turns a competitive game into damage control.

Sugar Land had one more answer in it. Shay Whitcomb singled and stole both second and third before Zach Dezenzo drove him in with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-3. Whitcomb finished 2-for-5 with a double, and that double was the hardest-hit ball in the game at 108.9 mph. Dezenzo also kept his season-long momentum rolling, extending his on-base streak to 15 games and reaching safely in every game he has played for Sugar Land this season.

There were a few other bright spots buried in the loss. Miguel Ullola threw a scoreless inning out of the bullpen, extending his scoreless streak to four consecutive outings. He has allowed just three runs across eight relief appearances. Even with Hendrickson’s line showing continued strikeout life, 43.2 innings, 39 strikeouts and a 4.53 ERA, Sugar Land left with the harder truth of Triple-A baseball: one promising start can still be swallowed by one bad inning. The Space Cowboys dropped to 31-41, while Albuquerque improved to 38-35 and held second place in the Pacific Coast League East to Sugar Land’s fourth.