Space Cowboys Drop Series Finale To Round Rock
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (56-31, 7-5) took the lead in the fourth and held it until the ninth, but the Round Rock Express (43-43, 6-6) rallied back to take the series finale 9-7 in extras at Constellation Field. Houston Astros RHP Jake Bloss was perfect through the first 10
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (56-31, 7-5) took the lead in the fourth and held it until the ninth, but the Round Rock Express (43-43, 6-6) rallied back to take the series finale 9-7 in extras at Constellation Field.
Houston Astros RHP Jake Bloss was perfect through the first 10 batters he faced, allowing his first baserunner on a single in the fourth inning to Ezequial Duran with one out. Duran advanced to second on a stolen base and eventually to third on a groundball from Matt Duffy in which Shay Whitcomb made a great play for the out, but on the next pitch, Bloss induced a fly ball from Blaine Crim for the final out of his outing. Bloss hurled 4.0 frames, striking out three and allowing just one hit in 55 pitches thrown.
First Triple-A strikeout for Jake Bloss 💪 pic.twitter.com/dYHGUJqQ91
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 7, 2024
The Space Cowboys offense broke through in the bottom of the fourth when a wild pitch from RHP Peter Solomon with runners on the corners allowed Will Wagner to race home and score the first run of the night for the Space Cowboys. The next inning, Jesús Bastidas tacked on another with a solo home run. Whitcomb singled in the next at-bat and advanced to third on a stolen base and a failed pick-off attempt by Solomon. Wagner drove in Whitcomb on a single to right field, and back-to-back base hits from Cooper Hummel and Omar Narváez loaded them up for Dixon Machado. Machado hit a groundball to second baseman Jayce Easley that bounced right out of his glove to move everybody up one and score another. Luke Berryhill drew a bases-loaded walk to score the fourth run of the frame and bring the Space Cowboys lead to 5-0.
No one is hotter than Will Wagner right now. 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/MWySqQ6A4z
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 7, 2024
Round Rock put up a four-spot against RHP Blair Henley in the sixth inning with a couple of two-RBI doubles from Crim and Sandro Fabian, making it a one-run game. The righty recovered to spin a scoreless seventh to cap off a three-inning relief appearance in which he struck out seven.
Bastidas led off the eighth with a double, his 25th of the season. The third baseman advanced to third on a groundout from Wagner, and a wild pitch from LHP Grant Wolfram (W, 2-1) scored Bastidas. On the next pitch, Pedro León mashed his second homer of the series, putting the Space Cowboys up 7-4.
WAY GONE FOR AN INSURANCE RUN! pic.twitter.com/CQUeMjBcAz
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 7, 2024
RHP Logan VanWey (BS, 5) took over in the ninth seeking his fifth save of the season. Fabian took the third pitch VanWey threw and sent it over the fence in left-center for a home run. Trevor Hauver drew a walk, and the next batter, Matt Whatley, launched a four-bagger to tie the game up at seven a piece.
In extras, Sam Huff knocked a two-run bomb off RHP Nick Hernandez (L, 1-1) to give Round Rock their first lead of the night at 9-7. Wolfram returned for the bottom of the tenth and issued a walk to Bastidas to put two on. With one out, Wagner sent one to the warning track for the second putout, bringing up León as the Space Cowboys last hope. RHP Daniel Robert (S, 5) came in for the final out, and León worked an eight-pitch at bat against him, including a ball just inches foul, before striking out on a fastball to give the Express the win in the series finale.
The Space Cowboys have a couple of days off before returning to action against the Las Vegas Aviators on Tuesday night. Both teams’ starters are TBA for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch. 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.