Offense Plays Catch Up In Third-Straight Victory
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (13-5) held on to take game three against the Round Rock Express (7-11) 7-6 at Constellation Field, winning their eighth game in their last nine contests. The Express plated three runs in the first on a couple of RBI hits by Nathaniel Lowe and Elier
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (13-5) held on to take game three against the Round Rock Express (7-11) 7-6 at Constellation Field, winning their eighth game in their last nine contests.
The Express plated three runs in the first on a couple of RBI hits by Nathaniel Lowe and Elier Hernandez. In the third, Round Rock tacked another run on a single from Jonathan Ornelas, giving the Express a 4-0 lead heading to the bottom of the third.
The Space Cowboys threatened in the bottom of the third on back-to-back walks from Luke Berryhill and David Hensley to lead off the inning. Jesús Bastidas ripped a double in the right-center field gap, extending his on-base streak to 10 games and scoring Berryhill. Another walk loaded the bases for Trey Cabbage, who drew a free base to score Hensley and an RBI groundout from Will Wagner brought in Bastidas. With runners on second and third, Shay Whitcomb bounced a ball up the middle to get to the outfield to score two and take the lead 5-4.
That will DO! 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/vXihAuPqeV
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) April 19, 2024
Round Rock tied it up in the sixth inning on an RBI single from Blaine Crim to score Andrew Knapp. It was Round Rock’s first time this series coming back after trailing.
The tie game did not last long, as Whitcomb came up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and cranked a home run out to deep left field, flying out of the park at 107.7 miles-per-hour for his third home run of the season. Later in the inning, with a runner on third and two outs, Bastidas slapped another double to left field to give the Space Cowboys an insurance run with a 7-5 lead.
We'll take that lead RIGHT back, thank you very much!
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) April 19, 2024
Shay Whitcomb's third RBI of the night is a big one 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GvZIrttud3
The Express attempted another comeback in the bottom of the ninth with RHP Logan VanWey (S, 2) on the mound, when Crim sent a slider out of the ballpark to cut Round Rock’s deficit to one. VanWey quickly recovered to get the next three outs, giving the Space Cowboys their 13th victory of the season.
RHP Rhett Kouba got into trouble early in his start, pitching 3.0 innings of four-run ball, three of them being earned. RHP Miguel Díaz (H,1) gave up one run in an inning. RHP Conner Greene, RHP Joel Kuhnel (W, 3-1), and LHP Parker Mushinski (H,3) shut down the Round Rock offense with scoreless innings.
The Space Cowboys play their fourth game of a six-game series against the Round Rock Express Friday night. RHP Ryan Gusto (0-0, 15.26) is set to take the mound for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch against Round Rock’s RHP Adrian Sampson (1-1, 7.90). 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.