Verlander Shines In Rehab, But Space Cowboys Fall To El Paso 

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (72-40, 23-14) had some help in the form of a three-time Cy Young Award Winner, but the El Paso Chihuahuas (46-67, 15-23) prevailed as the Space Cowboys dropped Saturday night’s contest 5-3 in 10 innings at Constellation Field.

Houston Astros RHP Justin Verlander took the mound for the Space Cowboys in his first rehab assignment since being placed on the injured list on June 16. The veteran walked the first batter he saw, but got the next three men in ten pitches, including a strikeout of Tirso Ornelas. Verlander gave up a lead-off triple and an RBI double in the second but struck out Kevin Plawecki for the first out of the frame. A walk put two men on first and second, however, Verlander got a force out at second off the bat of Brandon Lockridge. The runner at third, Matthew Batten, tried to take home in the process, but a heads-up play from first baseman Shay Whitcomb got the out at home.

SNAG CITY population: Shay Whitcomb 😤#SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/HbEnpcq17P

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) August 11, 2024

Verlander returned for the top of the third and got three easy outs to end his night and complete his rehab assignment. The 41-year-old threw 36 strikes on 52 pitches, using his four-seam fastball 54% of the time and getting five swings-and-misses on the pitch. His max velocity reached 95.6 miles-per-hour and he gave up just one run in his outing, walking two while striking out three.

hey @astros check this out 👋#SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/OmuBZKGlOj

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) August 11, 2024

In the fourth inning, the Space Cowboys loaded the bases up on a pair of singles from Whitcomb and Grae Kessinger along with a walk from Trey Cabbage. Jacob Melton grounded one to the shortstop, beating out the throw at first with his speed to score a run and avoid the double play to knot the game up. Melton stole second, and a single from Quincy Hamilton scored Sugar Land’s second run to take the lead and send Melton to third. On a sinker from RHP Gabe Mosser, César Salazar blooped a single just in front of the left fielder to give the Space Cowboys a 3-1 advantage.

RHP Ryan Gusto (L, 6-3) took over for Verlander and retired the first four batters he faced before walking a Chihuahua with one out in the fifth. Three pitches later, Brandon Lockridge took Gusto deep to tie the game up at three apiece. The two-run shot ended Gusto’s scoreless inning streak at 15.2 frames, the longest scoreless streak for the Space Cowboys’ pitcher this season. Gusto recovered to get the next two batters out on fly balls and faced just one above the minimum in the next four innings.

The game remained tied, sending it to extras. With the automatic runner on second, Gusto came back for the top of the tenth and on the first pitch Plawecki hit a single to send Batten home and give El Paso their first lead since the fourth inning. Clay Dungan grounded one to Whitcomb at first, and a throwing error halted the Space Cowboys double play attempt, instead putting runners on the corners with one out. On the next pitch, Nate Mondu sent a curveball to deep right field that was deep enough to score an insurance run for El Paso on a sacrifice fly.

Salazar led off the bottom of the tenth with a walk, but RHP Alek Jacob (S, 2) retired the next three Space Cowboys to end the game and serve Sugar Land their second loss this series.

The Space Cowboys will conclude their final series with the El Paso Chihuahuas on Sunday night. Sugar Land’s RHP Rhett Kouba (2-3, 6.48) will start opposite of El Paso’s LHP Omar Cruz (1-0, 2.84). 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.