Samad Taylor powers El Paso past Albuquerque in 7-6 road win

Samad Taylor kept punishing pitchers in every direction, and this time the El Paso Chihuahuas needed all of it. Taylor hit two home runs and a triple Wednesday night at Isotopes Park, driving a 7-6 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes in a game that stayed tense until the finish and showed why his bat has become the engine of El Paso’s offense.

Taylor’s night fit the shape of his recent run. Over his last three games, he piled up six extra-base hits, including three home runs, and drove in 11 runs. Entering the game, the 27-year-old right-handed hitter from Corona, California, was already at .325 with a .406 on-base percentage and a .936 OPS in 2026, with 4 home runs, 13 RBIs and 5 stolen bases in 83 at-bats. The latest surge is not a one-game spike. It is the kind of production that changes how a lineup plays from inning to inning, especially in a road series that keeps tightening late.

El Paso got more than Taylor’s power. José Miranda went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, giving the Chihuahuas steady traffic in front of the big swings. Jase Bowen and Sung-Mun Song also added multi-hit support, helping keep pressure on Albuquerque even as the game narrowed into a one-run margin. Cole Carrigg provided a different kind of threat for the Isotopes, stealing three bases and running his season total to 18, which ranked as the most in Triple-A at that point.

The result mattered as much as the line score. Luis Cienfuegos earned the win for El Paso, Parker Mushinski took the loss, and J.P. Jacob locked down the save as the Chihuahuas won in 3 hours and 10 minutes before 6,409 fans. The first pitch came in clear 78-degree weather with an 8 mph wind blowing out to right field, conditions that fit the night’s offense-heavy rhythm. El Paso improved to three straight wins and six in its last eight, while the teams entered the next day tied at 15-15, underscoring how pivotal this series was in the early Pacific Coast League race. Taylor’s fourth homer of the season was part of the lift, but the bigger point was how his power kept landing when the game was still in reach, not after it had already been decided.