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Nine-Run Outburst In The Seventh Give Sugar Land The Series Win

Bastidas and Whitcomb Combine for Nine RBIs on the Night.
Shay Whitcomb steps on home after connecting for a grand slam to cap a nine-run seventh inning for Sugar Land, Whitcomb's second grand slam of the season.
By Amanda Perry/Space Cowboys
June 16, 2024

Nine unanswered runs capped off by a grand slam in the seventh inning propelled the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (45-23) over the Oklahoma City Baseball Club (37-31) in a 14-5 victory on Saturday night at Constellation Field. For the second-straight game, the Space Cowboys started with a two-spot in the

Nine unanswered runs capped off by a grand slam in the seventh inning propelled the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (45-23) over the Oklahoma City Baseball Club (37-31) in a 14-5 victory on Saturday night at Constellation Field.

For the second-straight game, the Space Cowboys started with a two-spot in the first inning on a Pedro León RBI single and a Shay Whitcomb sacrifice fly to center. Sugar Land threatened for more with two outs after booting starter RHP River Ryan from the game after 33 pitches in his first start back from the injured list, but LHP John Rooney got the final out to end the first.

The next frame, after Luke Berryhill doubled into the left-field corner, the Space Cowboys added a couple more on a Jesús Bastidas two-run bomb, his second long ball in as many days to extend the lead to 4-0.

RHP Conner Greene took the mound in a spot start and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings and was lifted after giving up a two-out walk to Miguel Vargas in the third. Greene gave up two hits and three walks in the 13 batters he faced, striking out four. RHP Misael Tamarez took over for the final out of the third and struck out Trey Sweeney to end the frame.

Tamarez surrendered two back-to-back solo shots in the fourth to Kody Hoese and Hunter Feduccia to put Oklahoma City on the board, but Sugar Land got one back on an RBI single from David Hensley to make it 5-2 after four. With RHP Ray Gaither on the mound in his first appearance since being reinstated from the IL, the righty got two outs before giving up an RBI single to Drew Avans to bring Oklahoma City within two. RHP Kaleb Ort took over to get the final out of the top of the sixth and induced a grounder to third baseman Grae Kessinger, who could not quite field it cleanly and allowed two runs to score, knotting the game up at five. LHP Parker Mushinski (W, 1,0) took over in the top of the seventh and did not allow a hit or a run in his 18 pitches.

Sugar Land exploded in the seventh inning, starting with a dribbler from Quincy Hamilton that he beat out for a base hit, scoring León from third to break the tie. After Dixon Machado worked a walk to load the bases, RHP Michael Flynn struck out the next two batters to bring back the top of the Space Cowboys order. On the first pitch he saw, Bastidas lasered a liner over the third baseman to drive in two to cap off his four-RBI night, and two batters later, Kessinger followed suit with a two-RBI single himself. Later in the inning, with the bases juiced once again, Shay Whitcomb smashed a sinker 416 feet to left, his second grand slam of the season, to give the Space Cowboys a 14-5 lead over Oklahoma City. RHP Logan VanWey and RHP Dylan Coleman and pitched hitless innings, combining for five strikeouts to close out the game and give Sugar Land their 45th win of the season.

Shay Whitcomb:

On his grand slam:

“Our team is so talented. Basty [Bastidas] also hit his 15th hit this season, so it’s just been a friendly competition. I think that’s what keeps us into it.”

On the first half coming to a close:

“We want to win that first-half super bad, so we’re going to have to go into next week with the same mindset.”

Having already secured a series win, Sugar Land concludes their six-game set against the Oklahoma City Baseball Club Sunday night. LHP Eric Lauer (1-1, 7.80) will start for the Space Cowboys for a 6:35 pm CT first pitch opposite Oklahoma City’s RHP Landon Knack (3-2, 3.55). 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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