Sugar Land Uses Ninth Inning for Victory Over Round Rock

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (27-36) routed the Round Rock Express (33-30) for the third night in a row on Thursday at Dell Diamond. The low-scoring affair ended in a 4-3 final as the Space Cowboys plated the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.

Texas Rangers rehabber RHP Jonathan Hernández (0-2, 9.00) got the loss after allowing the winning run to score during his one inning of relief. The righty allowed one hit and two walks while recording one strikeout. Sugar Land RHP Enoli Paredes (2-2, 1.00) earned the night’s win thanks to a scoreless 1.0-inning relief outing that saw one hit, one walk and three punchouts.

Along the Train Tracks:

• After a scoreless three innings to start the contest, both teams put one run on the board in the fourth. Sugar Land RF Lewis Brinson hit a solo home run in the top of the frame before Round Rock RF Josh Sale launched a 426-foot shot in the bottom half to tie the game at 1-1.
• Both teams scored again in the sixth inning, making it a 2-2 contest. DH Corey Julks scored for the Space Cowboys thanks to a single from Brinson then Express DH Andy Ibáñez crossed home thanks to a Ryan Dorow sacrifice fly.
• Round Rock pushed ahead in the seventh frame as 2B Nash Knight worked a leadoff walk, moved to second base on a single from CF Elier Hernandez then scored as Ibáñez hit a single into center field.
• The game was tied for the third time when Sugar Land added one run in the eighth. After drawing a walk on an automatic ball four, SS Alex De Goti moved to second as 2B Enmanuel Valdez walked then scored when Brinson singled.
• The Space Cowboys broke the tie in the top of the ninth inning to move ahead 4-3. C Korey Lee earned a walk to start the frame, stole second, advanced to third on a Cesar Salazar groundout then scored the go-ahead run thanks to a double from LF Alex McKenna.
• Sugar Land RHP Ronel Blanco retired the final three Round Rock batters in order to earn the save and secure a 4-3 victory. The win pushed the Space Cowboys ahead 3-0 in the series.

E-Train Excerpts:

• Round Rock LHP Cole Ragans made his Triple-A debut on Thursday night with an impressive 7.0-inning start. The lefty allowed two runs on six hits while allowing zero walks and striking out eight batters. The seven frames marked the longest start for Ragans this season after making 10 with Double-A Frisco before his promotion to Round Rock.
• Three Express batters posted multi-hit performances on Thursday as CF Elier Hernandez, DH Andy Ibáñez and RF Josh Sale all tallied two. Sale was the only one to record a multiple-base hit thanks to his solo home run that put Round Rock on the board.

Next up: Round Rock looks for its first win of the series against Sugar Land with game four on Friday night. Express RHP Kohei Arihara (2-3, 5.40) is slated to make the start up against Space Cowboys RHP Brett Conine (2-1, 6.04).

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