Wagner Bangs Out Four Hits As Space Cowboys Take Down Chihuahuas

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (58-88, 25-46) jumped out to an early lead and responded with run in the middle frames to top the El Paso Chihuahuas (61-85, 29-42) 7-5 on Wednesday night at Constellation Field.

Corey Julks gave the Space Cowboys a lead in the first when Shay Whitcomb walked with two outs and Julks blasted a two-run homer to left, his second of the season, pushing Sugar Land to a 2-0 lead.

RHP Brandon Bielak got the start for the Space Cowboys and allowed just two hits through his first four innings of work, holding the Chihuahuas off the board. The Sugar Land offense added on a run in the bottom of the fourth on a walk, a single and a double play to open a 3-0 advantage.

El Paso tied the game and took the lead in the top of the fifth inning. The first three batters reached on a walk and two singles and Michael Cantu drove in a pair with a double. A wild pitch brought in the tying run and the Chihuahuas went in front on a fielder’s choice.

Sugar Land’s offense replied in the home half of the frame to reclaim the lead. Will Wagner ripped a single up the middle, his second hit of the night, and stole second. LHP Jay Groome (L, 4-10) walked Whitcomb and Pedro León to load up the bases and Rylan Bannon earned a bases-load walk to force in the tying run. LHP Adrian Morejon entered for El Paso and Joey Loperfido cracked a two-RBI single to left, giving Sugar Land a 6-4 lead.

LHP Parker Mushinski (W, 3-1) retired all five batters he faced, including a 1-2-3 sixth. RHP Logan VanWey made his Triple-A debut in the seventh and had a run score on a walk and a pair of wild pitches, but got a caught stealing to hold the lead. Wagner singled to begin the bottom of the eighth, his fourth hit of the night, and scored on a single from Bannon, widening the Space Cowboys lead to 7-5 heading to the ninth.

In the top of the ninth inning, RHP Enoli Paredes (S, 6) came on and walked the first batter. He struck out the next hitter, but a walk put the tying run on base. Paredes struck out the next hitter, and León threw out a runner at home for the final out of the game, sealing the Sugar Land victory.

Leading the series 2-0, the Space Cowboys continues their final series of 2023 on Thursday night. RHP Misael Tamarez will start for Sugar Land while El Paso is set to send RHP Jose Espada to the hill for a 6:35 pm CT 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.