Rain turned the infield at Isotopes Park into a stopping point Friday night, but Albuquerque’s bullpen had spent the evening making sure Salt Lake went nowhere first. Parker Mushinski, Jarrod Cande and Keegan Thompson repeatedly pitched around traffic, stranding eight runners in a rain-shortened 3-0 victory and combining for the Isotopes’ first shutout.
The game was called with two outs in the top of the sixth after heavy rain arrived. By then, Salt Lake had collected six hits and five walks, yet the Bees never converted any of them into a run.
That was the through line for Albuquerque’s pitchers: bend, escape, hand the ball to the next man.
Mushinski allowed a leadoff single in the first and worked around two more baserunners in the second, including a throwing error of his own. He completed two scoreless innings with one strikeout and one walk before Cande took over.
Cande faced immediate pressure. Nelson Rada singled and Yolmer Sánchez walked in the third, but Cande struck out Raudi Rodriguez and Niko Kavadas to keep the game scoreless. He encountered a stranger jam in the fourth — and escaped it with one of the night’s defining plays.
Ben Gobbel walked, moved to second on a flyout and watched Logan Porter draw another walk. Zach Humphreys followed with a grounder that Tyler Freeman shoveled to Nic Kent at second. Kent’s throw to Vimael Machín at first was too late for the conventional double play, but Gobbel tried to score. Machín threw home to Bryant Betancourt, who completed an unusual 4-6-3-2 double play and ended the inning.
Cande earned his first victory with two scoreless innings, two strikeouts and three walks.
Albuquerque’s offense gave him the lead with help from Salt Lake’s defense. Drew Avans walked in the third, and Freeman singled after an out. With two down, Charlie Condon sent a jammed pop fly into shallow left-center, where three Bees converged but failed to make the catch. Left fielder Cade Marlowe was charged with the error as Avans scored and Freeman sprinted home behind him. Condon reached second, and the Isotopes had a 2-0 lead without a run-scoring hit.
Before the game, Condon reflected on how Albuquerque maintained its cohesion through a season of roster changes.
“But, I mean, the ability, I think, for this group to keep a pretty tight core, and even with guys coming and going, it seems like a pretty unified group, and I feel lucky to have been a part of that.”
— Charlie Condon, Isotopes Right Fielder
The only RBI of the night came an inning later. Chad Stevens opened the fourth with his second hit, a liner to right, and remained at first through the next out. Kent jumped on Brett Kerry’s first pitch and ripped it down the left-field line. The ball reached the wall, Stevens rounded third and scored standing up without drawing a relay throw. Kent pulled into second with his 21st double and a 3-0 Albuquerque lead.
Stevens finished 2-for-2 with a run, while Kent went 1-for-2.
Thompson protected the margin through another extended threat in the fifth. Salt Lake put three runners aboard, including two on singles, but two force plays helped him limit the damage before he struck out Gobbel with the bases loaded.
The Bees opened the sixth with Marlowe’s second hit. Thompson retired Porter on a liner to left and struck out Humphreys on a foul tip before the rain halted play. He earned his first save after 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one walk and striking out two.
Condon had described the steady habits he observed from Albuquerque’s more experienced players — an approach that fit a night when the bullpen’s composure mattered more than clean innings.
“Pretty much everybody here has MLB service time of some sort. And you can kind of just tell not how nonchalant they are about their business, but just how routine they make everything look as far as just being ready to go every day.”
— Charlie Condon, Isotopes Right Fielder
The Isotopes finished with five hits and one error. Their pitchers allowed plenty of movement around the bases, but none across the plate — and when the rain finally won, Albuquerque already had.