One Big Inning Undoes Sugar Land

One high-scoring inning from the Oklahoma City Dodgers (32-11) sunk the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (17-25) in a 7-6 defeat on Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

As they did on Thursday night, the Space Cowboys put up a crooked number in the first inning. Bligh Madris walked and Grae Kessinger doubled before a fielding error by Yonny Hernandez opened up the scoring. Rylan Bannon then doubled inside of third to plate two more to make it 3-0. A sacrifice fly by Justin Dirden finished the scoring to put the Space Cowboys up 4-0 going to the bottom of the first.

The Dodgers scored a run in the home half of the first inning, but RHP Forrest Whitley threw a scoreless second and third to limit the Oklahoma City offense.

Sugar Land added on two more in the top of the third when Korey Lee doubled off LHP Robbie Erlin (W, 3-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Bannon. Pedro León then had a hard-hit ball bobbled at third for an error, allowing Lee to score and give Sugar Land a 5-1 lead. A single by Dirden and a walk to Alex McKenna loaded the bases and a wild pitch brought in León, putting the Space Cowboys in front 6-1.

Whitley returned for the bottom of the fourth but was lifted after back-to-back singles. LHP Nick Allgeyer (L, 0-1) induced a groundout that let a run score and after a walk coaxed a fielder’s choice out of Drew Avans that almost ended the inning on a double play. The next six Dodgers’ batters reached on four singles, a hit by a pitch and a walk, plating six total runs for OKC to put the Dodgers up 7-6.

Lee singled with two outs in the fourth and stole second, putting the tying run in scoring position for the Space Cowboys, but a strikeout by Erlin ended the threat. The Space Cowboys were held without a base runner until a walk to Dirden in the eighth, who also stole second base but was left stranded. RHP Nick Robertson (S, 6) came in for OKC in the ninth and walked Madris with one out before a pair of flyouts ended the contest.

The Space Cowboys continue their six-game series against the Dodgers on Saturday evening. RHP Misael Tamarez (0-0, 4.26) is slated to start against Dodgers’ RHP William Cuevas (2-1, 5.79) 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.

*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.