Space Cowboys Fight Back, But Fall To Round Rock

Despite coming back from a 5-0 hole after half a frame and holding the lead until the seventh inning, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (53-29, 4-3) fell to the Round Rock Express (41-40, 4-3) in an 11-9 defeat on Monday night at Dell Diamond.

Starter RHP Blair Henley found trouble in the first inning, giving up a pair of RBI singles and doubles to give Round Rock a quick 5-0 lead. Henley’s night ended with two outs in the first, and RHP Conner Greene came in relief to punch out Frainyer Chavez.

Playing from behind, the Space Cowboys got one back in the second on a solo shot from Quincy Hamilton. Jacob Amaya led off the third stanza with a single and made it to third on a stolen base and throwing error by the catcher Matt Whatley. A wild pitch on ball four to Luke Berryhill gave Amaya an opportunity to score the second run for Sugar Land. Later in the frame, with the bases loaded and RHP Peter Solomon on the mound, Omar Narváezdrove in Berryhill on a sacrifice fly to center. On the next pitch, Dixon Machado smashed a three-run homer to left field, launching the Space Cowboys past Round Rock at 6-5.

All aboard ☄️ pic.twitter.com/f6LukJ8dQ2

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 2, 2024

Greene pitched 3.1 innings in relief, and his only run allowed came in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from Jose Barrero. The righty reliever surrendered just a hit and a walk while striking out three.

In the fifth, Will Wagner and Pedro León started the frame with back-to back singles to put runners on the corner for Narváez, who sent another fly ball to center that was caught but gave Wagner enough time to score from third. David Hensley tacked on an insurance run on an RBI single to give Sugar Land an 8-6 advantage.

OMAR NARVÁEZ. GONE. pic.twitter.com/hIqGDaWWgK

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 2, 2024

Whatley smacked a home run to make it a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth, but Narváez responded with one of his own in the seventh inning to make it 9-7. With RHP Drew Strotman (L, 0-1) on the bump, Sandro Fabian singled and Trevor Hauver hit an RBI double to send Fabian home. The next batter, Jax Biggers, tied the game at nine on a triple, and later gave Round Rock the 10-9 lead by stealing home before RHP Nick Hernandez threw a pitch. The Express extended the gap in the bottom of the eighth on a home run from Justin Foscue. RHP Aidan Anderson (W, 4-1) and RHP Daniel Robert (S, 4) shut down the Space Cowboys in order during the eighth and ninth frames to end the game and send Round Rock to an 11-9 win.

The Space Cowboys look to bounce back in game two against the Express Tuesday night. Sugar Land’s RHP Ryan Gusto (2-1, 5.68) will go up against Round Rock’s RHP Owen White (1-4, 4.90) 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.