One Big Frame Sinks Space Cowboys On Friday
After rattling off three straight wins, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (13-6) dropped their first game in a six-game series against the Round Rock Express (8-11) 7-3 on Friday night at Constellation Field. The Express took an early lead on a throwing error by RHP Ryan Gusto (L, 0-1), scoring
After rattling off three straight wins, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (13-6) dropped their first game in a six-game series against the Round Rock Express (8-11) 7-3 on Friday night at Constellation Field.
The Express took an early lead on a throwing error by RHP Ryan Gusto (L, 0-1), scoring Elier Hernandez, who hit a lead-off triple. However, in the bottom of the frame, David Hensley made it to third on a double and a throwing error by Sandro Fabian. A Corey Julks sacrifice fly scored Hensley, tying the game up at one.
In the bottom of the third, Pedro León ripped a double over the centerfielder’s head to score Julks from second base, putting the Space Cowboys on top 2-1, giving León his 19th RBI of the season.
Round Rock retook the lead in the next inning, scoring on a two-run home run from Jantzen Witte. In the fifth inning, with RHP Ray Gaither on the mound, the Express tacked on another four runs on four hits, giving Round Rock a 7-2 lead after five frames.
In the top of the ninth, César Salazar was hit by a pitch, allowing him to reach with one out. After advancing to second on defensive indifference, Salazar raced home on ground-ball single to right field from Jacob Amaya, chipping away at the Express advantage, but the next batter flied out to close out a 7-3 defeat.
Gusto pitched four innings, giving up three runs, two earned with four strikeouts. RHP Dylan Coleman, RHP Forrest Whitley, RHP Wander Suero and RHP Joel Kuhnel pitched four scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and two walks between them. Five out of the six pitchers had at least two strikeouts on their line, totaling 12, tying the second-most strikeouts as a staff in a game this season for the Space Cowboys.
The Space Cowboys play their fifth game of a six-game series against the Round Rock Express Saturday night. RHP Blair Henley (0-1, 6.30) is set to take the mound for a 6:05 pm CT first pitch against Round Rock’s RHP Collin Wiles (NR). 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.