The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (20-28) dropped game three of their six-game series against the Sacramento River Cats (28-18) on Thursday night, falling 8-2 at Sutter Health Park.
Sugar Land struck first in the opening inning when CJ Alexander launched a leadoff home run to deep right-center field, giving the Space Cowboys an early 1-0 advantage.
Sacramento answered in the bottom of the third, using two singles, a double and a sacrifice groundout to plate three runs and take a 3-1 lead.
The River Cats continued to build momentum in the fourth inning, Â combining for two singles, a double and a home run in another three-run frame, stretching their advantage to 6-1.
Sacramento added on again in the sixth, stringing together a single, double and walk before bringing home two more runs with a sacrifice fly and additional offense to extend the lead to 8-1.
RHP Anthony Maldonado provided solid relief work, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings while allowing no hits. RHP Ethan Pecko tossed a minor league season-high 4.0 innings while striking out five. Pecko also set his minor league season high with 82 pitches in the appearance.
The Space Cowboys pushed across one final run in the ninth. Riley Unroe worked a leadoff walk before Jax Biggers singled to put runners on the corners. Rhylan Thomas lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Sugar Land’s second run of the night and trimming the deficit to 8-2.
NOTABLE:
- Cavan Biggio went 1-for-2 and worked three walks to extend his on-base streak to 14 games. Over that stretch, Biggio is 16-for-45 (.355) with two doubles, five home runs, 13 RBI, 12 walks and five runs scored.
- CJ Alexander went 1-for-4 on Thursday night, connecting for his 11th home run of the season. With the long ball, Alexander moved into a tie for fourth in the Pacific Coast League in home runs.
- Rhylan Thomas went 2-for-4 with an RBI for his second straight multi-hit game. Over the past two games, Thomas is 4-for-7 with an RBI.
Space Cowboys continues their six-game series against Sacramento on Friday night. Sugar Land will throw LHP Josh Hendrickson while Sacramento has yet to announce a starting pitcher for an 8:45 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard online anywhere at SLSpaceCowboys.com/Listen.
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, winning their first Triple-A title in 2024 by clinching both the Pacific Coast League Championship and Triple-A National Championship. 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). Season ticket plans for the 2026 season are available now and can be purchased at slspacecowboys.com/tickets.