Four-Run Third Leads Isotopes Past Space Cowboys, 4-3

Sugar Land, TX – Clutch hitting, quality starting pitching and strong relief pitching was a good combo for the Albuquerque Isotopes on Thursday night. They defeated the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 4-3 at Constellation Field, snapping a six-game skid.

Albuquerque scored all the runs they would need in the third. With two outs, Wynton Bernard and Coco Montes collected back-to-back singles. Brenton Doyle then smoked a two-run triple off the wall, before Carlos Pérez connected on his team-leading 29th home run of the season, giving the Isotopes a 4-0 lead.

Sugar Land halved their deficit in the bottom of the third on a two-run homer by Jake Meyers.

Pedro León brought home a run with a double in the eight inning, cutting Albuquerque’s edge to 4-3.

Zach Lee worked around a one-out single in the ninth to earn his 11th save, one away from *Chad Smith’s *team lead.

Topes Scope: - Kauffmann’s strikeout of León in the fourth inning was the 1,136th of the season for Albuquerque’s pitching staff. It set a new single-season team record, eclipsing the 1,135 punchouts by the 2013 team, in 144 games.

- Kauffmann turned in the 18th quality start of the season by an Isotopes pitcher, and the second in the last three nights. It was his first quality start since May 24 for Double-A Hartford, at Richmond. He earned the first win for an Albuquerque starter since Chad Kuhl on Aug. 20 at Tacoma.

- Topes starters have compiled a 2.65 ERA (17 IP/5 ER) over the first three contests of this series.

- The four-run third inning marked the 48th time the Isotopes have scored four or more times in a frame this season.

- Pérez’s homer was his first since Sept. 11 (24 at-bats) and just his fourth since Aug. 17.

- Kauffmann walked four batters, the ninth time in 12 Triple-A starts in which he has issued three or more free passes. He fanned seven, his second-most as an Isotope.

- Lee’s appearance was his 63rd, passing Brandon Villafuerte (2008) for the most outings by a pitcher in a single season in Isotopes history.

- Montes was caught stealing for the first time all season; he entered the contest 15-for-15 between Hartford and Albuquerque.

- The Isotopes are now 16-20 in one-run games, and 8-17 on the road. This is the third time this season they have played three consecutive one-run contests (April 5-7 at OKC; Sept. 9-11 vs. El Paso).

- Bernard has reached base safely three or more times for the 21st time this season. It was his 42nd multi-hit game, which leads the Topes.

- Albuquerque won a nine-inning game for the first time since Sept. 1 at Sugar Land.

On Deck: The Isotopes and Space Cowboys will face off again Friday at 6:05 p.m. Left-handed pitcher Logan Allen is scheduled to start for Albuquerque, while right-hander Shawn Dubin is slated for Sugar Land.