Pair Of Home Runs In Fifth Swings Game Against Sugar Land

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (55-87, 22-45) took an early lead but saw the Sacramento River Cats (64-77, 30-37) come back in the middle innings in a 4-2 defeat on Friday night at Sutter Health Park.

Sugar Land took the lead thanks to some clever base running in the top of the third. Bligh Madris connected for a hustle double to begin the stanza and advanced to third on a single to right by Marty Costes off RHP Mason Black (W, 2-4). Costes then stole second, drawing a throw from catcher Joey Bart that was knocked down at second, opening an avenue for Madris to come in and score on the throwing error, giving Sugar Land a 1-0 lead.

RHP Misael Tamarez (L, 1-10) struck out four in his first two innings of work and allowed just a single in a scoreless third. The right-hander wiggled out of a jam in the fourth after Bart walked and Bryce Johnson doubled to right, putting two men in scoring position with just one out. Tamarez coaxed a weak fly ball to left from Brett Wisley and got a ground out to first to keep the River Cats scoreless through four frames.

Back-to-back one-out homers by Wade Meckler and Marco Luciano put Sacramento ahead 2-1 in the fifth. Tamarez finished his night with a strikeout of Tyler Fitzgerald and departed with the bases empty after 4.2 innings of work, striking out a season-best eight and giving up just two runs on five hits.

The Space Cowboys had a chance to bring in the tying run in the top of the sixth. Corey Julks walked with one out and Pedro León singled through the right side, moving Julks to third base. RHP Parker Dunshee (H, 1) struck out the next batter to leave men on the edges for Sugar Land.

Sacramento scratched across another run in the sixth on a walk and a pair of singles and Luciano hit a solo home run to lead off the seventh inning. RHP Seth Martinez found himself in a bases-loaded jam with one out in the frame but struck out the next two hitters to leave the bases full and keep Sugar Land with three runs.

César Salazar started a Space Cowboys’ rally in the top of the eighth by earning a lead-off walk. Three batters later, Shay Whitcomb banged a double into the left-field corner, scoring Salazar from first to make it a two-run deficit at 4-2. RHP Nick Avila (S, 3) was summoned from the bullpen and retired the four Space Cowboys hitter between the eighth and ninth to lock down the save.

Sugar Land continues their six-game series with the River Cats on Saturday night. The Space Cowboys will send LHP Colton Gordon to the hill while Sacramento is set to start RHP Kai-Wei Teng for an 8:37 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.