Round Rock Rallies To Take Down Space Cowboys
For a second night, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (47-70, 14-28) took a lead into the final third of the game but saw the Round Rock Express (69-47, 25-17) come back to win 6-3 on Thursday night at Constellation Field. RHP Shawn Dubin got the start for the Space Cowboys
For a second night, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (47-70, 14-28) took a lead into the final third of the game but saw the Round Rock Express (69-47, 25-17) come back to win 6-3 on Thursday night at Constellation Field.
RHP Shawn Dubin got the start for the Space Cowboys and threw two scoreless frames, working around a walk and a single in the first and stranding a man at third in the second to keep the game scoreless heading to the third.
The Space Cowboys jumped out to a lead in the bottom of the third. Andrew Knapp reached to begin the inning on an infield single and moved to second on a throwing error. A wild pitch advanced Knapp to third and Luke Berryhill walked, putting men on the edges for Dixon Machado, who grounded out to bring in Knapp and put Sugar Land up 1-0. Following a groundout, Michael Brantley stepped up and ripped a single into center field, pushing the Space Cowboys to a 2-0 advantage.
JJ Matijevic padded the lead in the fourth with an opposite-field home run to left, his 16th home run of the season, giving Sugar Land a 3-0 lead. RHP Misael Tamarez (L, 0-8) took over in the fourth for the Space Cowboys and hurled a scoreless fourth and fifth, retiring eight straight hitters from the fourth to the sixth.
In the top of the sixth, Sam Huff walked with two outs and Davis Wendzel hit a two-run homer to left, pulling the Express within a run. Round Rock would take the lead in the top of the seventh, sending nine men to the plate while scoring four runs on four hits and a pair of walks.
Still trailing 6-3 going to the bottom of the ninth, Sugar Land was able to bring the tying run to the plate on a pair of occasions. Rylan Bannon led off with an infield single and Marty Costes walked. LHP Jake Latz (H, 6) got a double play to eliminate one of the runners, but a walk to Joey Loperfido brought up Shay Whitcomb up as the tying run. The second baseman drove the first pitch from RHP Chase Lee (S, 4) to deep right, but Sandro Fabian hauled it in at the warning track to end the contest.
Sugar Land continues their six-game set versus Round Rock on Friday night. The Space Cowboys are set to throw RHP Brandon Bielak (1-2, 5.91) while the Express are scheduled to counter with RHP Zak Kent (0-0, 1.00) 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.