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About

Sugar Land Clinches Series Win In Salt Lake, 7-1

Hummel, León and Whitcomb Go Back-To-Back-To-Back in the Third.
By Amanda Perry/Space Cowboys
June 8, 2024

An explosion of four homers and seven runs in the first three innings was all the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (39-22) would need against the Salt Lake Bees (25-35) in a 7-1 victory at Smith’s Ballpark on Friday night. Thanks to two straight doubles from Grae Kessinger and Joey Loperfido

An explosion of four homers and seven runs in the first three innings was all the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (39-22) would need against the Salt Lake Bees (25-35) in a 7-1 victory at Smith’s Ballpark on Friday night.

Thanks to two straight doubles from Grae Kessinger and Joey Loperfido on the first three pitches from Salt Lake starter LHP Reid Detmers (L, 0-1), the Space Cowboys took the early lead in the top frame. David Hensley hit his fourth homer of the season in the second to open up a 2-0 advantage after two frames. Hensley’s blast marks 17-straight games with a home run for Sugar Land, tying the franchise record set in 2023 from June 4 through 26.

In the top of the third, consecutive singles from Kessinger and Loperfido brought Cooper Hummel to the plate, who cranked a three-run bomb just fair to give Sugar Land a 5-0 advantage. The next two batters, Pedro León and Shay Whitcomb, each smacked a slider from Detmers out of the ballpark to give Sugar Land two more, the first time the Space Cowboys have hit back-to-back-to-back home runs since May 4, 2023 at Albuquerque.

RHP Blair Henley threw 4.0 scoreless innings before loading up the bases with one out in the fifth. RHP Cole McDonald (W 1-0) came on in relief and issued a walk to force in the only run of the night for Salt Lake. The righty quickly recovered to induce a groundball from Charles LeBlanc, and the defense turned a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning. Henley finished his day only allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out seven.

In the bottom of the seventh, RHP Alex Speas put two runners on second and third with two outs for Drew Ellis. Ellis sent a fly ball deep to the left-center gap, but Loperfido went airborne to make a diving catch that preserved the 7-1 lead. RHP Kaleb Ort shut down the Bees offense in the eighth and ninth innings, collecting five strikeouts out of the seven batters he faced. With their fourth victory in Salt Lake, the Space Cowboys clinched the series win against the Bees and their 39th overall victory of the season.

With the series secured, the Space Cowboys go for their fifth straight win as they continue their tilt against the Bees on Saturday night. RHP AJ Blubaugh (3-2, 4.00) will take the mound for the Space Cowboys for a 7:35 pm CT first pitch opposite RHP Davis Daniel (3-5, 5.65) for Salt Lake. 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.

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