Bullpen Hitless In 5-2 Space Cowboys Win
Undaunted by a Major League rehabber on the mound, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (43-23) offense attacked early, and the bullpen was nearly perfect against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club (37-29) in their 5-2 victory on Thursday night at Constellation Field. RHP Bobby Miller (L, 0-1), on his second rehab
Undaunted by a Major League rehabber on the mound, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (43-23) offense attacked early, and the bullpen was nearly perfect against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club (37-29) in their 5-2 victory on Thursday night at Constellation Field.
RHP Bobby Miller (L, 0-1), on his second rehab start with Oklahoma City from the Los Angeles Dodgers, took the ball against the Space Cowboys and retired 10 of the first 12 batters he faced. Sugar Land figured the righty out in the fourth inning when Pedro León lined a single to left then stole second before making his way to third on a wild pitch. Grae Kessinger then worked a walk to put men on the edges and Shay Whitcomb brought home the first run of the game on a ground out to score León. David Hensley and Dixon Machado hit back-to-back doubles to extend the Space Cowboys lead to 3-0 after four innings.
Hensley to the gap 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/fAmwZmto1V
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) June 14, 2024
A good ‘ole switch-a-roo. pic.twitter.com/s77m2gYt21
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) June 14, 2024
For Sugar Land, RHP Blair Henley (W, 3-4) threw four scoreless innings to start his night, scattering four hits in that span. Henley found trouble in the top of the fifth when a walk to Andre Lipcius brought up James Outman, who mashed a home run to straightaway center and made it a one-run game, Oklahoma City’s first home run of this series. Henley recovered to strikeout the final two batters he faced, ending his day after five innings pitched with four strikeouts.
The Space Cowboys got to Miller again in the bottom of the fifth when they loaded the bases on two walks and a single. On the first pitch he saw, Kessinger smoked a fastball to the centerfielder Outman, who dove for the sinking liner but could not quite make the grab and instead trapped the ball from bouncing past him, scoring two and extending Sugar Land’s advantage to 5-2.
HOW ‘BOUT THEM SPACE COWBOYS? pic.twitter.com/clVNoagMcs
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) June 14, 2024
Sugar Land’s bullpen did not allow a hit in their four combined innings pitched. RHP Kaleb Ort (H, 2) and RHP Luis Contreras (H, 7) retired all three batters each of them faced. LHP Bryan King (H, 11) took over the top of the seventh and issued a lead-off walk to Drew Avans but sent down the top of the order to extend his season-leading scoreless streak to 12.2 innings. Wander Suero (S, 12) closed out the game for Sugar Land, going three-up-three-down and leaping to first in the Minor Leagues with his 12th save of the season.
Leading the series 2-1, Sugar Land continues their six-game matchup with the Oklahoma City Baseball Club Friday night on ‘Fauxback Night’. RHP AJ Blubaugh (4-2, 3.78) will start for the Space Cowboys for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch opposite Oklahoma City’s RHP Chris Valimont (1-0, 4.09). 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.