Gusto Magnificent In Win Over Round Rock
After taking the lead in the first, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (65-37, 16-11) never looked back as they took the first of six games in the final series against the Round Rock Express (51-50, 14-13) with a 7-1 win on Tuesday night at Dell Diamond. The Space Cowboys got
After taking the lead in the first, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (65-37, 16-11) never looked back as they took the first of six games in the final series against the Round Rock Express (51-50, 14-13) with a 7-1 win on Tuesday night at Dell Diamond.
The Space Cowboys got the scoring going early against RHP Tim Brennan (L, 0-2) in the first when Jesús Bastidas led off the game with a walk. In the next at bat, Shay Whitcomb mashed his 21st home run of the season 419 feet to left field to give Sugar Land a two-spot. Zach Dezenzo was then hit by the first pitch he saw and Jacob Melton doubled Dezenzo over to third. Grae Kessinger came through with an RBI single, finishing off the first inning with a 3-0 lead over Round Rock.
RHP Ryan Gusto (W, 5-2) took the mound against Round Rock and shut down the first eight batters he faced before giving up the first Express hit of the game with two outs in the third to Frainyer Chavez. Gusto surrendered a lead-off double to Andrew Knapp in the fourth, but Knapp was caught attempting to steal second and was picked off by Gusto to clear the basepaths. Sandro Fabian doubled in the ensuing at bat, but Gusto responded by retiring the next nine batters in a row, throwing eight pitches in the fourth, nine pitches in the fifth and seven pitches in the sixth. A walk to Blaine Crim with two outs in the seventh and a hit by pitch of Andrew Knitzer ended Gusto’s night after 6.2 innings pitched, with the righty giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out six batters. LHP Parker Mushinski (H, 7) came in to get the final out of the inning, keeping Round Rock scoreless and securing Gusto’s second-straight quality start, his sixth overall this season.
After their explosive first inning, the Space Cowboys offense was quiet until the eighth inning, when Kessinger smacked a 2-2 fastball from RHP Peter Solomon over the fence in left to give Sugar Land the 4-0 lead over Round Rock.
Mushinski returned for the eighth inning and found himself in trouble after issuing back-to-back walks to start the frame. The lefty got Dustin Harris to ground into a force out to put runners on the corners, but Knapp drove in the first Round Rock run on a single to centerfield. RHP Ray Gaither (S, 1) came in and was able to get the next two outs to escape the jam, keeping the Space Cowboys lead at 4-1.
In the top of the ninth, after Bastidas and Cooper Hummel drew walks, Dezenzo belted his third home run as a Space Cowboy off a RHP Brock Burke slider to break open the game for Sugar Land. Gaither came back out for the ninth inning and got three-up-three-down to end the game and give the Space Cowboys a 7-1 victory.
The Space Cowboys are back in action against the Round Rock Express on Wednesday night. RHP Rhett Kouba (1-3, 7.71) will take the mound opposite Round Rock’s RHP Tyler Mahle (0-0, 0.00) for a 7:15 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.