Berryhill's Homer The Difference In 4-2 Sugar Land Win
An error and a huge blast led the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (37-22) to a 4-2 win over the Salt Lake Bees (25-33) at Smith’s Ballpark on Wednesday night. After back-to-back singles from Grae Kessinger and David Hensley put runners on the corners for RHP Travis MacGregor (L, 0-3) in
An error and a huge blast led the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (37-22) to a 4-2 win over the Salt Lake Bees (25-33) at Smith’s Ballpark on Wednesday night.
After back-to-back singles from Grae Kessinger and David Hensley put runners on the corners for RHP Travis MacGregor (L, 0-3) in the second inning, Jacob Amaya grounded the ball to Bees shortstop Elliot Soto, who lofted it way over the second baseman’s reach on a double play attempt and sent the ball into the outfield, allowing both runners to score and for Amaya to reach second. The costly error for Salt Lake put the Space Cowboys up two.
Hensley led off the top of the fourth with a walk, bringing up Luke Berryhill, who launched his sixth home run of the season to straightaway center off the batter’s eye to tack on two more for Sugar Land and give them a 4-0 lead. Berryhill’s bomb extended the Space Cowboy’s number of consecutive games with a home run to 15, dating back to May 19th.
BERRYHILL OFF THE BATTER’S EYE! pic.twitter.com/reV5c6L7k9
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) June 6, 2024
In his second start for Sugar Land, LHP Eric Lauer (W, 1-0) spun 5.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing just four hits and one walk against the Bees, earning his first win as a Space Cowboy. After a single and a wild pitch put Jack López on second base in the fifth, Zach Humphreys knocked in the only run Salt Lake would get off the southpaw. Lauer recovered to induce a soft lineout from Soto that ended the frame and his excellent outing.
With two on in the bottom of the seventh for Salt Lake, Drew Ellis scored the second and final run when Kessinger threw the ball away trying to complete the 3-6-1 double play. RHP Alex Speas (H, 2) walked the bases loaded, and RHP Cole McDonald (H, 2) came in with two outs to right the ship. On the second pitch McDonald threw, Jason Martin lined it 97.8 miles-per-hour to Joey Loperfido, and the first baseman snagged the ball to end the threat, preserving the Space Cowboys 4-2 lead.
The eighth was scoreless thanks to RHP Luis Contreras (H, 6), and RHP Wander Suero (S, 11) struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth to record his second save of the series to give Sugar Land another victory in Salt Lake.
Sugar Land continues their six-game set against the Salt Lake Bees on Thursday night. RHP Ryan Gusto (0-1, 8.03) will take the mound for the Space Cowboys against Salt Lake’s RHP Zach Plesac (2-7, 6.52) for a 7:35 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV or Bally Live.
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.