Tamarez Brilliant In Six Shutout Innings For Sugar Land
For a second straight night, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (48-74, 15-32) got six shutout frames from their starter, but ultimately fell 5-4 to the Reno Aces (69-53, 25-22) on Wednesday night at Constellation Field. The Space Cowboys took the lead in the bottom of the third inning thanks in
For a second straight night, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (48-74, 15-32) got six shutout frames from their starter, but ultimately fell 5-4 to the Reno Aces (69-53, 25-22) on Wednesday night at Constellation Field.
The Space Cowboys took the lead in the bottom of the third inning thanks in part to a defensive miscue. Rylan Bannon hit a tapper back to the mound that was fielded barehanded by RHP Aaron Sanchez and thrown high over first base, putting Bannon on second with no outs. Shay Whitcomb then smashed a two-run homer to left, his 18th of the year with Sugar Land and 30th overall, putting Sugar Land up 2-0.
RHP Misael Tamarez started his night by retiring the first seven batters that he saw, striking out a pair in both the first and second inning. He didn’t allow his first hit until a lead-off single by Jordan Lawlar in the fourth and sat down the next three batters in order to throw a scoreless frame.
Sugar Land gave their starter another run of support in the home half of the fourth thanks to a lead-off walk to Justin Dirden, a double to center by Joey Loperfido and a sacrifice fly by Bannon. An Andrew Knapp solo home run in the bottom of the sixth widened the Space Cowboys lead to 4-0.
Tamarez finished his night in the sixth by navigating around a pair of two-out singles, inducing a groundout from Jake McCarthy to strand both runners. The Space Cowboys starter threw 6.0 shutout innings, his longest outing of the season, surrendering just four hits and two walks while striking out six.
The Aces grabbed back three runs in the top of the eighth on two walks and a three-run homer by Kyle Lewis, making it a one-run game. LHP Parker Mushinski (L, 2-1) stranded a runner on base to finish off the eighth and returned for the ninth inning, but a walk and a single put the tying and go-ahead runs on base, ending Mushinski’s evening. A wild pitch and a single from Lewis vaulted the Aces to the lead and RHP Luis Frias (S, 4) threw a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up the save for Reno.
With the series level at 1-1, the Space Cowboys continue their six-game set versus the Aces on Thursday night. RHP Brandon Bielak is scheduled to toe the slab for Sugar Land while Reno is set to counter with LHP Blake Walston 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.
*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.