Bannon Slams Space Cowboys To 7-5 Victory

A six-run seventh inning helped catapult the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (16-21) to a 7-5 win over the El Paso Chihuahuas (16-22) on Saturday night at Constellation Field.

Trailing 4-1 going to the bottom of the seventh, the Space Cowboys started the rally with a single by Alex McKenna and a walk to Dixon Machado from RHP Nick Duron (L, 1-3). Grae Kessinger brought in the first run with an RBI single up the middle, extending his hitting streak to 10-games, bringing Sugar Land within a pair at 4-2. After a pop out, JJ Matijevic walked to load the bases and another free pass to Pedro León scored a run, making it 4-3. RHP Angel Felipe (BS, 2) was summoned by the Chihuahuas to face Rylan Bannon, who launched a go-ahead grand slam to left, his second homer of the year, pushing Sugar Land to a 7-4 lead.

RHP Bryan Garcia (W, 2-3) returned for his fourth inning of relief in the top of the eighth and after giving up a lead-off triple retired the next three hitters in order. RHP Cesar Gomez (S, 1) entered in the ninth for Sugar Land and worked a 1-2-3 inning to lock down his first Triple-A save.

El Paso took a lead in the first on a lead-off home run by David Dahl. Jose Iglesias then doubled, but RHP Forrest Whitley settled in after the first two hitters, retiring the next 11 in a row and allowing just one more base runner over his four innings. All told, Whitley struck out four and walked just one on 49 pitches, 32 of them for strikes.

In the top of the sixth, Alfonso Rivas doubled in a run to add on to the Chihuahuas lead. Korey Lee cut the deficit in half for the Space Cowboys in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to left, his third of the year, moving the Space Cowboys within a run at 2-1. A home run by Pedro Severino and an Iglesias RBI single widened the El Paso lead to 4-1 in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for the Space Cowboys comeback.

With the series in hand, the Space Cowboys close out their six-game series against the El Paso Chihuahuas on Sunday afternoon at Constellation Field. LHP Nick Allgeyer (0-0, 11.57) is scheduled to start for Sugar Land for a 2:05 pm first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV.

*ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS: *

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans, as well as single-game tickets, by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.