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Gusto And Whitcomb Carry Space Cowboys To Victory In Series Finale

Whitcomb Drives In All Four Runs of the Night While Gusto Hurls 7.1 Scoreless Frames
By Amanda Perry/Space Cowboys
August 4, 2024

A dominant pitching performance and a red-hot infielder were no match for the Round Rock Express (52-54, 15-17) as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (69-38, 20-12) took the final game against the Express 4-1 on Sunday night at Dell Diamond. The Space Cowboys could only manage three hits off the

A dominant pitching performance and a red-hot infielder were no match for the Round Rock Express (52-54, 15-17) as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (69-38, 20-12) took the final game against the Express 4-1 on Sunday night at Dell Diamond.

The Space Cowboys could only manage three hits off the newest Express starter RHP Ryan Garcia (L, 0-1) in his Triple-A debut until the sixth inning, when Jesús Bastidas worked a 3-2 count and earned a lead-off walk. Shay Whitcomb came to the plate and on the second pitch he saw mashed his 24th home run of the season for the 2-0 lead.

In the seventh, with the bases loaded on a pair of singles from Quincy Hamilton and Cooper Hummel along with a walk from Jacob Amaya, Whitcomb was up with two outs and two strikes against RHP Grand Anderson. Whitcomb grounded a slider in the hole between third base and shortstop for a single, scoring two runs and extending Sugar Land’s advantage to 4-0. All told, Whitcomb finished the night with four hits, pushing his average back over .300 for the season to .302 in 100 games played.

RHP Ryan Gusto (W, 6-2) was dominant in his 19th start of the season for his third straight win. After surrendering a single on the first pitch he threw, the righty retired the next six batters he faced and allowed just three more hits. He did not allow a runner to reach scoring position after the first inning and faced two over the minimum, inducing three double plays. Gusto hurled 7.1 innings and was scoreless in 92 pitches thrown, spinning his seventh quality start of the season and his sixth in his last seven outings, part of 14.0 scoreless innings against the Express this week.

When Gusto’s brilliant outing came to an end, RHP Dylan Coleman took over with the bases empty and one out in the eighth. After getting a three-pitch strikeout, the reliever walked Jax Biggers to bring up Trevor Hauver. Hauver lined a single to the center fielder Hamilton, but a misplay in the outfield allowed Biggers to race all the way home and Hauver to reach second, scoring Round Rock’s first run of the night. RHP Luis Contreras (H, 9) came on with two outs in the frame and retired Dustin Harris on a popout, leaving two men on base.

To close out the game, Sugar Land turned to RHP Wander Suero (S, 24) to earn his league-leading 24th save of the season. Suero needed just one pitch for the first out, but a single and a walk brought the tying run to the plate for Round Rock. The closer recovered to get two pop outs to end the game and finish off Sugar Land’s 2024 season with Round Rock with a 17-10 record versus the Express.

The Space Cowboys will return home to take on the El Paso Chihuahuas on Tuesday night. The starters for Sugar Land and El Paso are TBA 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, 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.

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