Sugar Land Overpowers El Paso In Extra Innings For Series Sweep

Thanks to a trio of tenth-inning runs, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (61-34, 12-8) completed a three-set sweep of the El Paso Chihuahuas (40-56, 9-12) with a 6-4 win at Southwest University Park on Sunday night.

LHP Eric Lauer retired six of the first seven batters he faced before issuing a lead-off walk to Cal Mitchell in the third. Mitchell stole his way to third base, allowing him to trot home on a single from Eugy Rosario. José Azocar put a bigger dent in the Space Cowboys deficit with a two-run homer to make it 3-0 El Paso.

The next frame, Pedro León responded with a home run of his own, his 19^th of the season and his second in as many days, to bring the Space Cowboys within two.

CAN’T STOP WON’T STOP pic.twitter.com/XVVDeVj1om

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 22, 2024

After four innings, Lauer’s night ended, surrendering three runs on three hits while walking two and striking out five. RHP Cesar Gomez took over and despite allowing two baserunners, pitched a clean frame. RHP Logan VanWey came in for the sixth and put two on base with no outs. The righty proceeded to get Clay Dungan to strike out on a foul tip and Óscar Mercado to ground into a double play, keeping the score at 3-1.

Jesús Bastidas led off the seventh with a solo bast on the second pitch he saw from LHP Omar Cruz. Later in the inning, with two outs, León drew a walk to bring Omar Narváez to the plate. Narváez ripped a double to left-center field, bringing León all the way home to knot the game up at three.

TIE BALLGAME LET’S GO! pic.twitter.com/u2dZTcmMPf

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 22, 2024

In the ninth, the Space Cowboys had a chance to take their first lead of the game when they loaded the bases up with no outs on a walk, a single and a hit-by-pitch, but LHP Paul Fry recovered to get a force out at home and a double play to keep the game tied. In the bottom half of the frame, with RHP Ray Gaither on the mound, the Chihuahuas juiced the bases up with two outs, and LHP Parker Mushinski (W, 2-1) was called upon to help the Space Cowboys escape a jam. All the lefty needed was one pitch to get Brett Sullivan to fly out to center, sending the game to extras.

Quincy Hamilton started the top of the tenth at second and a single from Dixon Machado moved the speedster over to third. After Bastidas walked to pack the bases, RHP Tommy Nance (L, 2-3) came in for the Chihuahuas to face Shay Whitcomb. Whitcomb delivered with a fly ball to center field, and an offline throw from Azocar allowed Hamilton to race home and score the go-ahead run. Cooper Hummel then worked a six-pitch at bat before launching a curveball from Nance into the gap in right-center, sliding into third and widening Sugar Land’s lead to 6-3.

GO AHEAD, SHAY! pic.twitter.com/Ob3cZI0C9O

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 22, 2024

In the bottom of the tenth, RHP Wander Suero (S, 21) entered the contest seeking his second save in a row with a three-run advantage. Suero got a fly ball for the first out, but a single from Graham Pauley sent Sullivan to third. The Chihuahuas got a run back on a sacrifice fly from Matthew Batten, but Suero induced a groundout for the final out of the game to secure the three-game sweep in El Paso.

The Space Cowboys return home to play the Sacramento River Cats for the first time this season on Tuesday night. Sugar Land’s RHP AJ Blubaugh (7-2, 3.93) will take the mound for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch. Sacramento’s starter is TBA. 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.