Dezenzo Saves Space Cowboys From A Shutout
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (64-37, 15-11) were kept to just three hits for a second-straight against the Sacramento River Cats (55-47, 11-16) as they fell 5-1 in the series finale on Sunday night at Constellation Field. RHP AJ Blubaugh (L, 7-3) took the mound for the Space Cowboys and
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (64-37, 15-11) were kept to just three hits for a second-straight against the Sacramento River Cats (55-47, 11-16) as they fell 5-1 in the series finale on Sunday night at Constellation Field.
RHP AJ Blubaugh (L, 7-3) took the mound for the Space Cowboys and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings until giving up a solo homer to Christian Koss with two outs in the fourth. After that, his night was over at 78 pitches and RHP Cesar Gomez came in relief, securing the last out in the fourth.
The Space Cowboys got their first hit in the bottom of the fourth on a Shay Whitcomb single and after Zach Dezenzo grounded into a force out, Cooper Hummel was walked to put two on. A double steal put runners in scoring position with two outs. Quincy Hamiltonnearly had his 14th home run of the year on a deep fly ball to right field, but it was just shy of the wall on the warning track for Luis Matos to catch, keeping the score at 1-0 River Cats.
Gomez returned for the fifth inning and gave up a one-out single to Grant McCray. The next pitch, Marco Luciano blasted one over the fence in right-center to bring the River Cats lead to 3-0. Back-to-back walks from Sacramento brought Blake Sabol to the plate, and Sabol launched a ball to the warning track in left-center that Jacob Melton captured in his glove, but fell out when the centerfielder slammed into the wall, scoring both runners with Sabol parking at second base. The Space Cowboys turned to RHP Logan VanWey to get the last out, and after giving up a walk, the righty reliever ended the frame by getting Donovan Walton to fly out. VanWey was lights out in the ensuing two innings, pitching 2.1 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four.
In Sugar Land’s final chance to avoid the shutout, Dezenzo launched a solo home run to right in the ninth inning to make it 5-1. The Space Cowboys threatened for more with two consecutive walks from Melton and Hummel, but LHP Kolton Ingram recovered to get the final two outs to serve Sugar Land their second-straight loss and a split in the six-game set.
That ball rode in style! #SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/dgOJ4vzpKG
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 29, 2024
The Space Cowboys look to turn the page as they travel to Round Rock to take on the Express on Tuesday night. RHP Ryan Gusto (4-2, 4.50) will take the mound while Round Rock’s starter is TBA for a 7:15 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.