Junk Throws Four Shutout Innings, But Space Cowboys Fall To Rainiers

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (74-41, 25-15) got the early lead, but were unable to hold it against the Tacoma Rainiers (66-50, 23-18) as they dropped game two of their series 3-2 at Cheney Stadium on Wednesday night.

Trey Cabbage led off the second inning with a double in the right-center gap. A wild pitch moved Cabbage to third, and Cooper Hummel drew a one-out walk to put runners on the corners for Omar Narváez. Narváez took a slider from RHP Emerson Hancock and grounded it through the right side for a base hit to send Cabbage home, scoring the first run of the night for Sugar Land.

Omar starts us off 🤙 pic.twitter.com/KyieSs6HfV

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) August 15, 2024

In the fourth, a single from Grae Kessinger and a walk from Cabbage put two on with no outs. Jesús Bastidas flew out to deep right, giving Kessinger enough time to tag up and land at third. Hummel sent a sinking liner to the Rainiers’ right fielder Jason Vosler, who dropped the catch, allowing everyone to move up a bag and score Kessinger from third.

RHP Janson Junk was dominant in his second start for Sugar Land, hurling 4.0 no-hit innings, walking two while punching out a pair. RHP Conner Greene came in relief for Junk and went three-up-three-down with a strikeout. Coming in for the sixth was RHP Ray Gaither (H,6), who allowed the first Rainier hit of the night on a Duke Ellis double. A walk and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. Gaither recovered and struck out the final two batters of the sixth to end the inning and squash Tacoma’s threat.

Scoreless since the All-Star Break, RHP Nick Hernandez (L, 4-3) took the seventh and put two on with one out for Michael Papierski. Papierski smacked a double over the head of right fielder Kenedy Corona, bouncing off the wall and scoring Volser from second while moving Rhylan Thomas to third. Two pitches later, Ellis sent a fastball to center fielder Jacob Melton for a sacrifice fly, allowing Thomas to cross the plate to tie the game up at two. RHP Logan VanWey was called to get the final out of the inning, but Ryan Blisstook the first pitch he saw from VanWey and sailed a double to left field, bringing the go-ahead run home to make it 3-2 Rainiers.

The Space Cowboys offense was unable to put anything together until the ninth inning, when a walk and a single off RHP Joey Krehbiel (S, 8) put two on with two outs for Jacob Amaya. Amaya worked a nine-pitch at bat, but Krehbiel won the battle and secured the final out for Tacoma to serve the Space Cowboys with their first loss of the series.

The Space Cowboys look to bounce back against the Rainiers for the third game of the series on Thursday night. Sugar Land’s RHP AJ Blubaugh (8-3, 4.00) will take the mound opposite of Tacoma’s RHP Michael Mariot (7-5, 5.17) for a 9:05 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.