Sugar Land Space Cowboys Notch First-Ever Victory 

(WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – Behind a phenomenal effort from their pitching staff, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys won their first game under their new brand as the Houston Astros Triple A affiliate. The Space Cowboys allowed just two hits in a 1-0 victory over the Sacramento River Cats on Saturday night at Sutter Health Park.

Chad Donato fired six scoreless innings in his season debut, allowing just one hit and striking out six batters. Shawn Dubin struck out the side in an inning of relief, topping out at 98 mph, Jon Olczak added a scoreless frame and Josh James collected his first save of the year, striking out two and stranding the winning run on second base.

The Space Cowboys scored the lone run of the game in the fifth inning. Alex De Goti led off with a single and moved to second on a ground out from Scott Manea. He then came around to score from second base on an infield single down the third-base line from David Hensley.

Pedro León went 1-for-5 with a single, extending his hitting streak to five games to open the season. Korey Lee collected a double off the left-field wall for the second straight night, sending a ball 366 feet that nearly left Sutter Health Park.

Outside of a 6-0 loss on Thursday, all five games of the series thus far have been decided by one run.

The Space Cowboys finish out their opening six-game series in Sacramento at 3:05 pm. on Sunday. It’s slated to be a rematch of Opening Day between JP France for the Space Cowboys and Jakob Junis for Sacramento.