Loperfido Blast Walk-Off Homer in 11th To Win Fourth Straight for Sugar Land
In the only home game of the season that has gone to 11 innings, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (59-88, 26-46) got a walk-off two-run homer from Joey Loperfido to pick up a 4-2 victory over the El Paso Chihuahuas (61-86, 29-43) on Thursday night at Constellation Field. El Paso
In the only home game of the season that has gone to 11 innings, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (59-88, 26-46) got a walk-off two-run homer from Joey Loperfido to pick up a 4-2 victory over the El Paso Chihuahuas (61-86, 29-43) on Thursday night at Constellation Field.
El Paso scored their bonus runner in the top of the tenth thanks to an RBI single from Jarryd Dale but RHP Seth Martinez struck out a pair to limit the Chihuahuas to just one run. In the bottom of the frame, LHP Jared Koenig (BS, 4) walked three of the first four hitters he faced to plate the tying run for Sugar Land, but Koenig got an infield pop-up and a strikeout to leave the bases full.
In the 11th, RHP Enoli Paredes (W, 3-4) retired all three batters he faced, leaving the bonus runner at third for El Paso. RHP Domingo Tapia (L, 1-6) induced a groundout and struck out a hitter to bring up Loperfido, who connected for a two-run blast to left, Loperfido’s fifth home run of the season for Sugar Land, winning the game for the Space Cowboys. It was the eighth walk-off victory for Sugar Land and the second walk-off home run of the year.
RHP Misael Tamarez started for Sugar Land and turned in one of his best outings of the season. The righty retired the first five hitters before giving up a single, but César Salazar recorded a caught stealing to end the frame. Tamarez allowed his only run of the night in the third on a walk, an infield single and an RBI groundout, putting El Paso up 1-0. After the groundout, Tamarez gave up just three more hits and faced two over minimum, striking out five across 6.0 innings, tied for his longest outing of the season.
Loperfido was in the middle of Sugar Land’s effort to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Rylan Bannon singled to right off RHP Kevin Kopps (BS, 2) and advanced to second on a groundout by Salazar. Loperfido then laced a two-out single to left, driving in the tying run for the Space Cowboys. A combination of RHP Jimmy Endersby, LHP Matt Gage and RHP Joe Record each hurled a scoreless inning to send the game into extras.
Winners of their last four straight, Sugar Land continues their six-game series with El Paso on Friday night. RHP Shawn Dubin and LHP Colton Gordon are scheduled to throw as a tandem while the Chihuahuas are set to send RHP Glenn Otto to the hill for a 7:05 pm CT 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.