Dezenzo Steals The Show In His Triple-A Debut

It was a night full of star-studded performances at Constellation Field on Wednesday night, as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (63-34, 14-8) dominated the Sacramento River Cats (52-46, 8-15) in a 5-1 with a Triple-A debut to remember.

In the second inning, Cooper Hummel drew a one-out walk off RHP Carson Ragsdale (L, 0-2) to bring the newly promoted Zach Dezenzo to the plate. All Dezenzo needed was one pitch to mash his first Triple-A home run to the opposite field, putting Sugar Land up 2-0 after two.

WELCOME TO SUGAR LAND, ZACH DEZENZO!

First swing = First HOMER 🤯#SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/LCxqXrEf70

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 25, 2024

The next frame, Dixon Machado led off with a double to left field while Jesús Bastidas and Pedro León walked to load the bases with two outs. Hummel worked an eight-pitch free base to force in a run and make it 3-0 Sugar Land.

RHP Ryan Gusto (W, 4-2) was lights out in his 17^th start of the season, giving up just a walk in his first time through the order and not allowing a hit until a one-out single in the fourth. Despite two walks, Gusto faced one over the minimum through his first six innings, thanks to a caught stealing and a double play and returned for the seventh inning. The righty got the first two outs easily in the seventh, but three consecutive singles from the River Cats drove in the first run of the night for Sacramento. Gusto finished off seven innings on the next pitch, when the ball got away from César Salazar and Hunter Bishop tried to rush home, but Salazar recovered just in time to toss it to Gusto and apply the tag before Bishop touched home.

In the bottom of the seventh with a 3-1 lead, León and Hummel drew walks on a combined nine pitches, brining Dezenzo back up. The Astros’ #4 prospect did not disappoint, sending both runners home on a double to right field. Dezenzo finished his first Triple-A game with a 3-for-4 night, ending up just a three-bagger shy of the cycle.

hey @zachdezenzo asking for a friend (admin): are you human?????

3-for-4 with 4 RBIs in his Triple-A debut 😮‍💨#SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/AmS6QfhiXU

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 25, 2024

“It was a pretty special debut for me,” said Dezenzo. “A lot of hard work has gone into this, to get to this moment. I’m just really grateful to be here with a special group of guys here.”

RHP Luis Contreras and RHP Nick Hernandez took over the eighth and ninth innings for the Space Cowboys, and neither allowed a baserunner in a combined 26 pitches, sending the Space Cowboys to their fifth-straight victory and their second of the series. The two righties have added to the spectacular run that the Sugar Land bullpen has been on, hurling 16.1 scoreless innings since Saturday, allowing just five hits in that span.

The Space Cowboys take on the River Cats for the third game of the series on Thursday night. Sugar Land’s RHP Rhett Kouba (1-3, 7.45) will take the mound opposite of Sacramento’s RHP Carson Seymour (3-8, 4.25) 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.