Space Cowboys Unable To Pull Through After Early Deficit
After finding themselves in a 5-0 hole after the second inning, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (89-51, 40-25) could not come back against the Reno Aces (72-68, 37-28) as Sugar Land fell in Thursday night’s contest at Constellation Field, 5-2. In the top of the first, RHP AJ Blubaugh (L,
After finding themselves in a 5-0 hole after the second inning, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (89-51, 40-25) could not come back against the Reno Aces (72-68, 37-28) as Sugar Land fell in Thursday night’s contest at Constellation Field, 5-2.
In the top of the first, RHP AJ Blubaugh (L, 12-4) got the first two outs with ease before giving up back-to-back singles to Tristin English and Kyle Garlick. Blubaugh was ahead in the count 2-2 to Tim Tawa, but the Reno first baseman mashed a fastball to left field for a three-run home run. The next inning, the Aces tacked on a couple more on a two-run double from Jorge Barrosa to give Reno a quick 5-0 lead.
Sugar Land inched back in the third when Cooper Hummel drew a walk and Pedro León singled to put two on with one out. Zach Dezenzo took a curveball from LHP Tommy Henry (W, 9-1) and sent it over the fence in left field, bouncing off the railing and making its way back onto the field, which was officially called a double that scored just one run. Trey Cabbage then hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right, allowing León plenty of time to tag up and score from third, cutting Reno’s lead to 5-2.
A 354-foot "double" from Dezenzo puts us on the board 😃😃😃 #SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/9DpEcBPple
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) September 13, 2024
Blubaugh’s night ended after 78 pitches and three innings. Taking over in the fourth was RHP Conner Greene, who pitched a scoreless inning. Greene returned for the fifth and loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single with one out. The reliever proceeded to strike out Bryson Brigman on three pitches and induced a flyout for the last out of the frame to escape the jam, preventing Reno from doing any more damage.
The Space Cowboys missed a couple of key chances to score. First in the sixth, a couple of singles put two on with two outs, but Henry stranded the runners with a popout to end the inning. In the seventh, the Reno bullpen loaded the bases on two walks and a soft single with two outs, but LHP Kyle Backhus got a strikeout to close out the frame and keep Reno’s lead at 5-2.
In addition to the two scoreless frames from Greene, RHP Nick Hernandez, RHP Seth Martinez and RHP Rafael Montero hurled a combined four innings of one-hit ball. In their final chance to score, the Space Cowboys went down in order on six pitches against RHP Scott McGough (S, 7) to drop Thursday night’s contest 5-2.
The Space Cowboys look to bounce back against Reno on Friday night. Sugar Land’s starter is TBA while RHP Yilber Diaz (3-4, 3.22) will take the mound for Reno with 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.