Whitcomb Grand Slam Not Enough To Pull Space Cowboys Back In Sunday Defeat
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1-2) dropped game three against the Round Rock Express (2-1) Sunday afternoon 8-6 at Dell Diamond. Starter Rhett Kouba (L, 0-1) suffered the loss, pitching 2.1 innings while giving up two runs and three walks, striking out three. He found himself in trouble early on
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1-2) dropped game three against the Round Rock Express (2-1) Sunday afternoon 8-6 at Dell Diamond.
Starter Rhett Kouba (L, 0-1) suffered the loss, pitching 2.1 innings while giving up two runs and three walks, striking out three. He found himself in trouble early on with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the third inning. After giving up a walk to bring in Matt Duffy, Space Cowboys manager Mickey Storey brought in Mark Washington to right the ship. Despite giving up another bases loaded walk, Washington escaped the inning without giving up any more runs.
The Express offense did not stop there; in the bottom of the fourth, back-to-back RBI doubles by Sandro Fabian and Elier Hernandezbrought the Round Rock run total to five. A bases-clearing double by Sam Huff drove in another three runs, extending the lead to make it 8-0 Express.
The Space Cowboys did not go down quietly. After a lead-off walk by Will Wagner in the top of the fifth, David Hensley mashed his first home run of the season to left field against Adrian Sampson (W, 1-0) to bring the team within six. In the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded and one out, slugger Shay Whitcomb knocked a massive grand slam to dead-center field, sailing 430 feet, to bring Sugar Land within two of tying the game.
One thing we’re NOT gonna do is go down quietly.
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) March 31, 2024
GRAND SLAM FROM SHAY WHITCOMB!
📏 430 FT
🔥 111.4 MPH pic.twitter.com/4xbX5Tn0wL
Despite the eight earned runs in the first half of the game, Sugar Land relievers Cole McDonald, Logan VanWey, and Wander Suerom shut the Round Rock hitters down in the late innings, combining for 3.0 innings, striking out three while only allowing two hits and two walks.
The Space Cowboys travel back to Sugar Land for their first home game of the season against the Las Vegas Aviators at Constellation Field on Tuesday night. RHP Ryan Gusto is set to make his Triple-A debut for Sugar Land while the Aviators are set to counter with LHP Hogan Harris for a 6:05 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV and 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.