Five home runs fueled an offensive outburst as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (38-24, 70-66) defeated the Reno Aces (29-32, 61-75) 9-2 on Saturday night at Constellation Field.
For the second consecutive game, Kristian Robinson hit a leadoff home run to give the Aces an early lead. However the lead was short lived as Joey Loperfido singled to left field to put a runner on for Collin Price, who followed with a two-run home run, giving the Space Cowboys a 2-1 lead.
Sugar Land continued to add to their advantage in the bottom of the second. Raynel Delgado singled before Lucas Spence crushed his fourth home run of the season to right field, extending the Sugar Land cushion to 4-1.
For the third straight inning, the Space Cowboys plated two runs in the third. Pascanel Ferreras worked a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Loperfido then singled to put runners on the corners for Sugar Land and Cavan Biggio followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Ferreras and giving the Space Cowboys a 5-1 edge. Zach Dezenzo followed with a double off the wall, pushing the score to 6-1.
After allowing a run to score in the first inning, RHP Bryce Mayer tossed a scoreless second before facing the minimum in a perfect third inning. Reno plated an unearned run in the fourth, however, Mayer responded with a scoreless fifth to complete his outing. Mayer tossed 5.0 innings, allowing two hits, two runs, one earned run, while walking three and striking out four.
RHP Alimber Santa tossed a perfect sixth inning, inducing a groundout before two popouts closed the inning to keep Reno off the board. RHP Nic Swanson then tossed 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three in his second appearance with the Space Cowboys.
After a flyout gave Sugar Land one out in the seventh, Zach Cole smashed a home run deep to center field to extend the Sugar Land lead to five runs. Delgado and Garret Guillmette then connected on back-to-back home runs in the eighth, propelling the Space Cowboys to a 9-2 lead.
RHP Roddery Muñoz worked a perfect ninth inning, recording two groundouts before striking out the final batter he faced to seal the Sugar Land victory.
NOTABLE:
- Sugar Land tied a franchise record by hitting five home runs at Constellation Field on Saturday night. The only other home game in which Sugar Land hit five home runs came on August 20, 2021 against the Oklahoma City Comets.
- Collin Price homered for the second straight game on Saturday night, going 1-for-2 with a home run, two RBI and two walks. It is the first time Price has homered in consecutive games since May 24 at Sacramento and May 26 against Oklahoma City.
- Joey Loperfido went 3-for-4 with two runs scored on Friday night, recording his third game with at least three hits this season and his first three-hit game at Constellation Field since August 1 against Salt Lake.
- Lucas Spence went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI on Saturday night, hitting his fourth home run of the season with Sugar Land and his first at home since June 27 against El Paso.
- RHP Bryce Mayer tossed 5.0 innings on Saturday night, allowing two hits, two runs and one earned run while walking three and striking out four. Mayer has worked at least 5.0 innings in four consecutive starts with Sugar Land, totaling 21.1 innings over that span with 14 hits allowed, seven runs, six earned runs, six walks and 23 strikeouts.
- RHP Nic Swanson made his second appearance in Triple A on Saturday, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings while allowing one hit and striking out three. Through his first two Triple-A outings, Swanson has thrown 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six.
- Raynel Delgado went 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored on Saturday night, hitting his first home run since July 26 against Nashville.
- Garret Guillemette hit his first home run as a member of the Space Cowboys on Saturday night. It marked his first home run since April 18, when he homered for Double-A Corpus Christi against Northwest Arkansas.
- Zach Cole went 1-for-5 with a home run on Saturday night. Cole has now recorded an RBI in three consecutive games and is 4-for-14 with two home runs, five RBI, a walk and two runs scored over his last three games. His home run left the bat at 109.0 mph, marking the hardest-hit ball of the game.
The Space Cowboys look to even the series in their final game of their six-game set against Reno on Sunday evening. LHP Josh Hendrickson will get the start for Sugar Land against RHP Ashton Izzi for the Aces The game can be seen on the Bally Sports Live app and MiLB.TV and 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 2027 season are available now and can be purchased at slspacecowboys.com/tickets.