Shutdown and Show Out: Space Cowboys Blast Chihuahuas 18-1

An impressive debut on the mound and plenty of hits scattered across the lineup propelled the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (46-63, 13-21) to an 18-1 victory in their series opener against the El Paso Chihuahuas (47-62, 15-19) on Tuesday night at Southwest University Park.

Corey Julks reached on throwing error with one out in the first and stole second, getting into scoring position for JJ Matijevic, who ripped a double to the left-field gap, putting the Space Cowboys up 1-0.

LHP Colton Gordon (W, 1-0) was spotted the lead before he took the hill and hurled a 1-2-3 bottom of the first. The southpaw struck out his first batter to begin the bottom of the second inning and issued a walk to Oscar Mercado with one out. A balk and a stolen base on a strikeout put the tying run at third, however Gordon left the runner at third on a flyout by Matthew Batten.

The Space Cowboys gave their starter more run support in the top of the third. Matijevic singled, Pedro León walked and Shay Whitcomb dropped a single into right, loading the bases for David Hensley, who hit a single to right, driving in two. Following a fielder’s choice, Marty Costes laced a single inside of the right-field line to plate another run, and César Salazar scored another run on a groundout, widening the Space Cowboys lead to 5-0.

Gordon surrendered a walk and a double with one out in the fourth but knuckled down and struck out Mercado and induced a groundout, keeping the Chihuahuas off the board. In his final inning of work in the fifth, a single and a double that ricocheted off of second base gave the Chihuahuas a scoring chance against Gordon, but Julks threw out the runner at home to maintain the shutout. A flyout to right closed out the night for Gordon, who struck out three and gave up just three hits over 5.0 shutout innings in his Triple-A debut.

In the top of the fourth, Julks walked and Matijevic came up with his second double of the evening, scoring Julks from first. Two batters later, Whitcomb clocked a two-run home run to left, his 15^th longball with Sugar Land and 27^th overall of the year, tied for the second most home runs in Minor League Baseball this season, pushing the Space Cowboys to an 8-0 lead.

Sugar Land put the game further out of reach with a six-run seventh inning, scoring all six runs with two outs. Salazar was hit by a pitch, Rylan Bannon walked and Julks reached on another error, loading the bases for Matijevic, who walked to force in a run. León drilled a double to the left-field corner, driving in a pair, and two more runners scored on a failed catch. Hensley finished the rally with a triple.

In the ninth, Julks walked and Matijevic launched a wall-banging double, his fourth of the night, setting up León, who lifted a three-run homer of the left-field wall to put Sugar Land up 17-1. The four doubles in the game for Matijevic are the most doubles in a single game in Space Cowboys history.

The Space Cowboys continue their six-game series with the Chihuahuas on Wednesday night. RHP Ronel Blanco is scheduled to start against RHP Matt Waldon for a 7:35 pm CT first pitch at Southwest University Park. 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.