Space Cowboys overcome early hole, beat Sacramento in 11 innings

July 27, 2024 – Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Press Release Sugar Land Space Cowboys

SUGAR LAND, TX – The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (64-35, 15-9) couldn’t overcome a five-point deficit and fought back to win 9-8 in overtime over the Sacramento River Cats (53-47, 9-16) on Friday night at Constellation Field.

In the second inning, the Space Cowboys struck first when Quincy Hamilton doubled to right field, putting a runner in scoring position for César Salazar. A wild pitch moved Hamilton to third, and Salazar sent a ball to the outfield, just deep enough for Hamilton to tag in and score. In the next frame, Cooper Hummel was hit by a pitch to lead off the third. Zach Dezenzo sent Hummel home with a double to left, and Will Wagner extended the lead to 3-0 when he drove in Dezenzo.

LHP Colton Gordon allowed just one baserunner until the fourth inning when Grant McCray hit a two-bagger off the lefty. From there, Sacramento attacked Gordon for an eight-run inning, sending 13 men to the plate and capitalizing on five walks and five hits to open an 8-3 lead.

The Space Cowboys put runners on the corners for Will Wagner with no outs in the fifth inning, and the designated hitter traded two outs for a run on a double play. Two pitches later, Grae Kessinger hit his second home run in as many days on an opposite-field shot to right field, bringing Sugar Land within three. The sixth inning turned around, with Hamilton leading off with a walk. Salazar drove in his second run of the night with a triple to center field, scoring Hamilton from first base to cut Sugar Land’s deficit to 8-6.

RHP Austin Warren (H, 3) came on in the ninth inning to close out the game for the River Cats. After successfully getting the first two outs, Hummel worked an 11-pitch walk to keep the Space Cowboys alive, bringing Dezenzo to bat. The first baseman took a slider from Warren and tagged it into the left field gap, hitting the pitch out for an infield single. Still batting with two outs, Wagner broke his bat on a single to right field, bringing Hummel around third to score. Just one pitch later, Kessinger hit an RBI single to left, tying the game at eight and completing the Space Cowboys’ comeback from a five-run deficit.

Sugar Land called up RHP Wander Suero (W, 6-1) for the tenth inning and after allowing Ryan McKenna to reach leadoff, he got the next three outs on a sacrifice bunt and two strikeouts. Salazar was intentionally walked to start the bottom half of the inning, but RHP Donovan Walton (L, 2-1) got a double play to retire two baserunners. Jacob Amaya was just a few feet away from a walk-off homer, but instead flew out to deep right-center to start the 11th inning.

Suero came back out for the 11th, striking out Christian Koss in three pitches. After a hit-by-pitch and a force out, Suero got Marco Luciano to whiff on the 1-2 cutter to complete his 2.0 shutout innings. In the bottom of the frame, Hummel was walked intentionally and Dezenzo singled to load the bases. Walton got one out on a shallow flyout, but Kessinger lined a batter to deep right field, giving Amaya enough time to race home and score the winning run, giving the Space Cowboys their 32nd comeback win of the season.

The Space Cowboys, winners of six of seven games into the All-Star Break, look to carry their winning momentum into Saturday night against the River Cats. Sugar Land’s LHP Eric Lauer (2-2, 5.27) will take the mound. The Sacramento starter is TBA for a first pitch at 7:05 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online and can be seen on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV or Bally Live.

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