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MLB

Clutch Hitting Give Space Cowboys 3-1 Win Over Astros

Dirden’s Seventh Inning Double The Difference for Sugar Land
By Amanda Perry/Sugar Land Space Cowboys
March 25, 2024

Thanks to a seventh-inning rally, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys picked up a 3-1 victory over their parent club Houston Astros on Monday night at Minute Maid Park. RHP Rhett Kouba took the mound to start the first of two exhibition games for Sugar Land. After loading the bases with

Thanks to a seventh-inning rally, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys picked up a 3-1 victory over their parent club Houston Astros on Monday night at Minute Maid Park.

RHP Rhett Kouba took the mound to start the first of two exhibition games for Sugar Land. After loading the bases with one out, Kouba stabilized after a José Abreu RBI single to strikeout a combo of Chas McCormick and Yanier Diaz, escaping the inning trailing by just a run.

In the top of the fifth, the Space Cowboys loaded the bases against Astros All-Star reliever Ryan Pressly. Lead-off man Quincy Hamilton traded an out for a run on a grounder off the bat, tying the game at one apiece.

The Astros threatened to score when they loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth as McCormick came to bat. Sugar Land reliever LHP Bryan King (W, 1-0) induced a huge double play turned by shortstop Shay Whitcomb to escape the jam and keep the score tied.

After a quiet evening for the bats on both sides, Sugar Land managed to push ahead when Justin Dirden cranked an RBI double off the left field wall, allowing Jesús Bastidas to score from first. The next inning, a two base error committed by Tommy Sacco Jr. allowed David Hensley to bring in a run and extend the lead to 3-1, solidifying the Space Cowboys win over their Major League Affiliate.

A couple of standout catches from third baseman Will Wagner and Dirden robbed the big leaguers of extra-base hits. Big appearances by RHP Logan VanWey, King and RHP Cole McDonald kept the Astros bats at bay. Overall, the pitching staff regulated the mighty Astros offense to only four hits and struck them out eight times. Offensively, the Space Cowboys worked a whopping seven walks to help propel them to the win.

The Space Cowboys play a final exhibition game against the Astros on Tuesday night at 7:10 pm at Minute Maid Park. The game can be heard on SportsTalk790 AM and seen on Space City Network. It is the last game before Sugar Land kicks off the regular season against the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond on March 29 at 7:15 pm.

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.