Bats Held Down In 5-1 Defeat Against Dodgers

In a pitcher’s duel, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (17-23) came up on the losing end in a 5-1 defeat to the Oklahoma City Dodgers (30-11) on Wednesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

The Space Cowboys struck for their only run of the night in the top of the third inning. Joe Perez scorched a triple to the right-field gap, his first three bagger of the year, and scored on an RBI groundout from Alex McKenna. The triple extended Perez’ hitting streak to nine games, the longest current streak for Sugar Land.

RHP Bobby Miller (W, 1-1) would walk Bligh Madris after the McKenna groundout but finished his night by retiring the next 11 hitters that he faced.

On the bump for Sugar Land, RHP Kyle McGowin got the start and gave up a lead-off double to Yonny Hernandez in the first, but induced a flyout and struck out the following two hitters to strand Hernandez at third. The double was the only hit allowed by McGowin, who tossed four scoreless frames and sat down the final seven batters that he saw.

The Dodgers broke through in the bottom of the fifth when RHP Devin Conn (L, 0-1) issued four consecutive walks, forcing in a run to tie the contest at 1-1. RHP Austin Hansen entered and got a double play, but a run scored to put OKC in front 2-1. Luke Williams would add a run with a solo homer in the sixth and two more runs scored for the Dodgers in the bottom of the eighth on two hits and an error. Sugar Land sent the minimum to the plate in the final six innings, managing just a hit and a walk after the third inning and hitting into a pair of double plays.

The Space Cowboys and Dodgers continue their six-game series on Thursday night. RHP Jayden Murray (2-3, 6.39) toes the rubber for Sugar Land against Oklahoma City RHP Matt Andriese (3-2, 5.50) for a 7:05 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.