Urquidy Fires Two Frames For Sugar Land In Opener Against El Paso

A triple in the sixth inning was the difference on Friday night as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (2-11, 35-53) dropped their opener of a nine-game homestand 5-4 to the El Paso Chihuahuas (3-10, 35-53) at Constellation Field.

RHP José Urquidy started as part of a Major League rehab assignment with the Space Cowboys and hurled a 1-2-3 first inning, needing just nine pitches, seven strikes, to retire the side. Rylan Bannon gave Sugar Land an early lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the first, his eighth of the season.

A walk, a single, a stolen base and a throwing error led to a pair of runs for the Chihuahuas against Urquidy in the second, but the righty responded by striking out the next two hitters and inducing an infield popup to end his night. All told, Urquidy threw 32 pitches, 22 for strikes, giving up two unearned runs on just one hit with a walk and two strikeouts in two innings of work.

Sugar Land’s offense responded in the bottom of the second, rallying with two outs to take the lead. Joe Perez singled up the middle and Marty Costes was hit by a pitch, bringing up César Salazar, who cracked a base hit to right, scoring Perez to level the contest at 2-2. Quincy Hamilton singled to left to drive in both base runners, giving the Space Cowboys a 4-2 advantage after two innings.

El Paso struck for a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning when Alfonso Rivas walked and scored on a double from Jose Azocar. A two-out single from Max Schrock knotted the game at 4-4, tallying the second of three runs against RHP Spenser Watkins (L, 0-2), who struck out eight batters over 4.2 innings of relief.

In the bottom of the fifth, Bannon and Jon Singleton both recorded singles with two outs, placing men on the edges. However, RHP Jake Sanchez (W, 2-4) got a sharp lineout to strand both runners and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth for the Chihuahuas.

Rivas led off the top of the sixth with a double and advanced to third with one out on a groundout from Tim Kohlwey. Jantzen Witte then tucked a triple inside of first, giving the Chihuahuas their second lead of the night. The Space Cowboys best scoring chance came in the bottom of the eighth when Singleton singled to start the stanza but was cancelled out on a double play. JJ Matijevic narrowly missed hitting an opposite-field home run, instead recording a double to put the tying run in scoring position but was left stranded on a strikeout by LHP Jesus Castillo (H, 2). LHP Ray Kerr (S, 6) walked the first man in the bottom of the ninth before coaxing a pair of fielder’s choices out of the Space Cowboys and struck out the last batter to secure the save.

The Space Cowboys continue their three-game series with the Chihuahuas on Saturday night. RHP Ronel Blanco (2-0, 0.56) is slated to toe the slab for Sugar Land opposite El Paso LHP Jay Groome (1-6, 8.69) for a 7:05 pm first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV.

*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.