Whitcomb's Third Grand Slam Surges Sugar Land Past Sacramento
After finding themselves in a three-run hole after two and a half frames, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (62-34, 13-8) rallied back in grand fashion to take the first of six games against the Sacramento River Cats (52-45, 8-14) with a 7-3 win at Constellation Field on Tuesday night. The
After finding themselves in a three-run hole after two and a half frames, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (62-34, 13-8) rallied back in grand fashion to take the first of six games against the Sacramento River Cats (52-45, 8-14) with a 7-3 win at Constellation Field on Tuesday night.
The River Cats struck first in the top of the second with a solo shot from Hunter Bishop. The next pitch, Blake Sabol shot a single to right and moved to third on a double from Ryan McKenna. Grant McKay sent both baserunners home on a double to put Sacramento up 3-0. RHP AJ Blubaugh’s night ended after two frames, surrendering three runs on six hits, striking out two on 60 pitches.
Omar Narváez drew a walk in the bottom of the second and advanced a bag on a balk from RHP Landen Roupp. Luke Berryhill drove in Narváez on a broken-bat single to right field, cutting the Sugar Land deficit to 3-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, after RHP Conner Greene and RHP Dylan Coleman (W, 2-0) pitched three scoreless innings, Quincy Hamilton led off the frame with a home run just over the fence in center field to bring the Space Cowboys within one. Later in the inning, three consecutive singles from Berryhill, Jacob Amaya and Jesús Bastidas loaded up the bases for Shay Whitcomb. Whitcomb took advantage of an 87.5 mile-per-hour fastball from RHP Tanner Andrews (L, 3-5) and smashed his third grand slam of the season to leap Sugar Land over Sacramento at 6-3.
Shay Whitcomb. We're speechless.
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 24, 2024
GRAND SALAMIIIIII! #SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/tT4pHBXiX2
With Bastidas on third in the bottom of the seventh, the Space Cowboys tacked on an insurance run after a Will Wagner single on a tapper to third base off the bat, allowing Bastidas to race home and score while making it 7-3 Sugar Land.
Wags gives us run number 7⃣ pic.twitter.com/FAndCbWtcq
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) July 24, 2024
Sugar Land’s bullpen pitched a masterclass, combining for 7.0 innings and only allowing a hit and a walk from six different pitchers. Along with great performances from Greene and Coleman, RHP Forrest Whitley (H, 4), RHP Logan VanWey (H, 8), RHP Kaleb Ort and LHP Parker Mushinski were scoreless in their appearances, helping shut down the River Cats offense and leading the Space Cowboys to a win. Space Cowboys hurlers retired 20 of the final 21 batters they faced and 21 of 23 after the second inning.
The Space Cowboys are back in action on Wednesday night against the River Cats. Sugar Land’s RHP Ryan Gusto (3-2, 4.78) will take the mound opposite of Sacramento’s RHP Carson Ragsdale (0-1, 7.62) 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.