France Dominates As Space Cowboys Go Deep Three Times in 5-1 Win

Three home runs and another dominant outing from the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (7-12) pitching staff drove a 5-1 win over the Las Vegas Aviators (8-12) on Saturday night at Constellation Field.

Las Vegas took a lead in the top of the third inning thanks to a walk, a throwing error and an RBI single by Cody Thomas. RHP Misael Tamarez allowed just that one unearned run over 3.1 innings, and LHP Matt Gage came in to strand two runners in the top of the fourth to keep Sugar Land down by just a run.

One big swing from the Space Cowboys leveled the game in the fourth. With two outs, Ross Adolph golfed a 1-0 pitch from RHP Colton Eastman (L, 0-3) over the right-field wall, pulling Sugar Land even at 1-1.

RHP JP France (W, 2-1) took over for Sugar Land in the fifth and stifled the Las Vegas lineup, retiring the first seven batters that he faced. France allowed just one hit, a single to Yohel Pozo in the seventh, snapping his hitless streak at 8.0 consecutive innings. However, France got a double play from the next batter to face the minimum through three innings of work.

Sugar Land went ahead for good in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a pair of defensive errors by Las Vegas. Grae Kessinger walked with one out and Dixon Machado followed with a single, his second knock of the night, to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Michael Sandle then reached on a fielding error by Aviators’ shortstop Nick Allen and Pedro León brought in the go-ahead run when he hit a ball to short that was bobbled by Allen, putting the Space Cowboys up 2-1. A ground out by JJ Matijevic added the final run of the frame, plating Machado to widen Sugar Land’s advantage to 3-1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Joe Perez launched a solo home run to left, his second of the year, to increase Sugar Land’s lead to 4-1. Two batters later, Kessinger uncorked a blast to left as well, his second home run of the season, making it 5-1 in favor of the Space Cowboys.

France took the lead and ran with it, retiring the side in order in the eighth and ninth to close out the game. All told, the right-hander allowed just one hit and faced just 15 hitters in five scoreless frames with six strikeouts.

Looking for a series split, Sugar Land concludes their six-game series with Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon. RHP Forrest Whitley (1-1, 4.26) is scheduled to start for Sugar Land against Aviators’ RHP Drew Rucinski (0-1, 13.50) for a 2:05 pm first pitch at Constellation Field. Astros’ outfielder Michael Brantley is also scheduled to begin a Major League rehab assignment with the Space Cowboys on Sunday. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV.

*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.