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Wagner Drives In Three In Fourth Of July Victory

Whitley Spins Perfect Inning For Second-Straight Night
July 4, 2024

Despite starting off the game in a 3-0 hole, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (55-30, 6-4) fought back to take the 7-4 win against the Round Rock Express (42-42, 5-5) at Constellation Field on Thursday night. A leadoff double in the second from Sam Huff provided some trouble for LHP

Despite starting off the game in a 3-0 hole, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (55-30, 6-4) fought back to take the 7-4 win against the Round Rock Express (42-42, 5-5) at Constellation Field on Thursday night.

A leadoff double in the second from Sam Huff provided some trouble for LHP Colton Gordon. A wild pitch and a walk put runners on the corners for Jax Biggers, who knocked a double into the right-field corner to score one. Gordon secured the next two outs but gave up two runs on a double from Justin Foscue to put Round Rock up 3-0.

Luke Berryhill started off the third inning with a double in the right-center gap. A groundout moved Berryhill over to third base and Shay Whitcomb reached first after getting hit by a RHP Adrian Sampson sinker on the first pitch of the at bat. Will Wagner drove in the first Sugar Land run of the night on a base hit to the opposite field. A single from Pedro León loaded up the bases for Quincy Hamilton, who drew a walk bring the Space Cowboys within one. Dixon Machado sent a fly ball deep enough to allow Wagner to race home and knot the game up at three.

“I was just trying to see the ball up and, make something happen, and put the ball in play,” said Wagner on his two-hit night. “That’s what I did, and good things happen.”

RHP Forrest Whitley (W, 2-0) held the Round Rock offense hitless after taking over in the sixth for Gordon, and the game remained tied until the bottom of frame, when a single from David Hensley and a double from Jesús Bastidas put two runners in scoring position for Wagner. LHP Blake Taylor relieved RHP Daniel Robert (L, 3-1) for a lefty-on-lefty matchup, but Wagner prevailed as the designated hitter knocked in the go-ahead runs for Sugar Land with a single to center, surging the Space Cowboys past Round Rock at 5-3.

In the bottom of the eighth, León tacked on a couple more runs with a two-run bomb to left-center, his 14th of the year, to give the Space Cowboys a 7-3 lead. RHP Wander Suero, in to close out the game for the ninth, surrendered a solo shot on the second pitch he threw, but recovered to get two groundouts and a strikeout to end the game and hand Sugar Land the 7-4 victory.

The Space Cowboys will play the second of a three-game set with Round Rock Friday night. Sugar Land’s LHP Eric Lauer (2-2, 6.21) will take on Round Rock’s RHP Jack Leiter (4-3, 3.67) for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch. 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.