Blanco Blanks Chihuahuas In Space Cowboys Victory
For the second consecutive evening, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (47-63, 14-21) got a scoreless outing from their starter as they took down the El Paso Chihuahuas (47-63, 15-20) 8-1 on Wednesday night at Southwest University Ballpark. On the bump for Sugar Land, RHP Ronel Blanco (W, 4-1) encountered his
For the second consecutive evening, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (47-63, 14-21) got a scoreless outing from their starter as they took down the El Paso Chihuahuas (47-63, 15-20) 8-1 on Wednesday night at Southwest University Ballpark.
On the bump for Sugar Land, RHP Ronel Blanco (W, 4-1) encountered his only trouble of the night in the first inning. Brett Sullivan singled with one out, advanced to second on a passed ball and then moved to third on a groundout by Eguy Rosario. Blanco struck out Brandon Dixon to strand the runner at third, Blanco’s second strikeout of the frame. The righty needed 15 pitches to throw a scoreless first, the most pitches he threw in an inning all night.
After being retired in order in the first, the Space Cowboys offense strung together a trio of hits to take the lead in the second. Shay Whitcomb doubled to deep center off RHP Matt Waldron (L, 2-9) and David Hensley followed with a two-bagger of his own, putting Sugar Land up 1-0. Luke Berryhill then launched a two-run homer to right center field, his sixth of the season, to extend the Space Cowboys lead to 3-0.
Blanco responded by striking out the side in the second inning and was given additional run support in the top of the third. Rylan Bannon earned a lead-off walk and Corey Julks doubled to bring in Bannon, pushing Sugar Land to a 4-0 advantage. JJ Matijevic and Pedro León knocked with back-to-back singles, plating another run, and a single from Hensley two hitters later vaulted the Space Cowboys to a 6-0 margin.
Max Schrock reached on an infield single that deflected off Blanco’s glove with one out in the third. It was the last base runner that Blanco allowed as he got a pop out and a ground to close out a scoreless third. The right-hander concluded his night by sitting down the final 14 batters that he faced, recording three more strikeouts in the process. The 7.0 innings pitched for Blanco is a new career high for a single outing, surpassing his previous high of 6.1 innings on July 13, 2017 while pitching in High-A. Blanco’s eight strikeouts were also one shy of tying his career high in MiLB.
Sugar Land tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth on four consecutive walks and a double play. RHP Seth Martinez spun a 1-2-3 eighth and LHP Matt Gage was summoned for the ninth. The southpaw struck out the first batter he faced, the 18th straight hitter retired by Space Cowboys’ pitching, but an infield single and a double inside the line plated the only run of the game for El Paso.
Leading 2-0 in the series, Sugar Land continues their six-game set against the Chihuahuas on Thursday night. RHP Spencer Arrighetti gets the start for the Space Cowboys while LHP Aaron Leasher is set to toe the rubber for El Paso for a 7:35 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.