Sugar Land Runs Their Way To 8-3 Win Over Reno
The Sugar Land Cowboys (18-8) took game five against the Reno Aces (12-13) 8-3 at Greater Nevada Field on Saturday, winning their third in a row to secure a fourth-consecutive series victory. The Space Cowboys broke the game open in the fourth inning, when Pedro León launched a solo home
The Sugar Land Cowboys (18-8) took game five against the Reno Aces (12-13) 8-3 at Greater Nevada Field on Saturday, winning their third in a row to secure a fourth-consecutive series victory.
The Space Cowboys broke the game open in the fourth inning, when Pedro León launched a solo home run to lead off the frame, soaring 479 feet, the longest home run in all of professional baseball this season and León’s third of the year. With runners on the corners, César Salazar knocked in Corey Julks and Will Wagner to extend the Space Cowboys lead to 3-0.
That one isn't coming back.
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) April 28, 2024
📏 479 FT
🔥 113.8 MPH pic.twitter.com/x16hN0TCIx
In the fifth, León led off the inning with a walk and proceeded to steal second and third base, along with a Julks walk and stolen base to put runners on second and third. Wagner then hit a sacrifice fly that allowed León to cross home. The Space Cowboys found themselves in another bases-loaded situation for Jacob Amaya, who knocked in a run on another sacrifice fly to bring the Sugar Land advantage to 5-0.
RHP Misael Tamarez (W, 3-1) spun 5.0 brilliant innings, giving up just four hits with eight strikeouts, including five straight strikeouts from the first through the third. RHP Dylan Coleman relieved Tamarez in the sixth and found himself in a jam after walking the first three Reno batters to give the Aces momentum. LHP Bryan King (H,4) came in work out of the jam and induce a double play to Tristin English to trade a run for two outs. A single from Kolten Wong gave the Aces another run, but King got the last strikeout to end Reno’s threat and keep the score at 5-2.
Back-to-back balks in the seventh forced in Julks to give Sugar Land an extra insurance run. In the top of the eighth, with two runners on, León drove a liner off the glove of Aces third baseman Andrés Chaparro, dribbling into left field to give Hensley enough time to score. With Loperfido on second and León at first, a double steal was successfully executed, aided by a throwing error from Reno’s catcher Jose Herrera that allowed Loperfido to race home to make it 8-2.
The Aces got a run back on a sacrifice fly from Wong off RHP Logan VanWey, but that would be all the Aces would score as RHP Wander Suero came in to get two strikeouts and a flyout to end the contest.
All told, the Space Cowboys stole a season-best six bases on Saturday, with León swiping three of them. He now has nine steals in 10 tries this season, the fifth most in the PCL. Julks, Loperfido, and Shay Whitcomb also recorded a stolen base tonight.
After securing the series win, the Space Cowboys conclude their week against the Reno Aces Sunday afternoon. RHP AJ Blubaugh (2-0, 3.14) is set to take the mound for a 3:05 pm CT first pitch against Reno’s RHP Christian Mena (2-0, 3.75). 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.