LHP Josh Hendrickson tied a career high eight strikeouts as strong pitching propelled the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (39-24, 71-66) past the Reno Aces (29-33, 61-76) in a 3-1 win in Sunday night’s series finale at Constellation Field.
After Hendrickson tossed a perfect top of the first inning, striking out the side, the Space Cowboys offense quickly took the lead in the bottom half. Zach Cole led off by smashing a home run to left field on the first pitch he saw, giving Sugar Land an early 1-0 lead.
After giving up a single in the second inning, Hendrickson did not allow another hit until the sixth inning, retiring nine in a row from the third through the sixth. The Aces scored their only run off the lefty in the sixth on a two-out walk and two singles, evening the game at 1-1. Hendrickson tossed 5.2 innings, permitting three hits and one run while walking just two batters.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Pascanel Ferreras crushed a leadoff home run to right field to put the Space Cowboys back on top, giving Sugar Land a 2-1 advantage.
The Space Cowboys’ bullpen continued its scoreless stretch as RHP Christian Roa entered in relief with two outs in the sixth inning. Roa induced a flyout to close the inning before working around a baserunner to toss a scoreless seventh. RHP Logan VanWey followed with a perfect eighth, forcing two groundouts before striking out the final batter he faced to close the inning.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Collin Price launched a home run for his third consecutive game to extend the Space Cowboys’ lead to 3-1. RHP Roddery Muñoz (S, 12) entered in relief in the ninth inning for Sugar Land. After striking out the first batter he faced, Muñoz induced a groundout before striking out the final batter he faced to secure the victory and record his 12th save.
NOTABLE:
- LHP Josh Hendrickson tossed 5.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run while walking two and striking out eight on Sunday night. His eight strikeouts were a season high and were his most in an affiliated game since August 1, 2023, when he struck out eight batters for Reading against Hartford.
- Pascanel Ferreras went 2-for-3 with a home run in Sunday evening’s series finale. Despite making his Space Cowboys debut on June 2, Ferreras’ 24 multi-hit games are the most among players on Sugar Land’s active roster. Ferreras has also scored a run in four consecutive games, while his home run was his second of the series. Against Reno this week, Ferreras went 8-for-25 with two doubles, two home runs, two RBI, a walk and five runs scored.
- Collin Price went 1-for-4 with a home run Sunday night, extending his home run streak to three consecutive games for Sugar Land. Over his last three games, Price is 4-for-9 with three home runs, five RBI, three walks and three runs scored.
- Zach Cole went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and a walk in Sunday’s series finale. Cole extended his hitting streak to five games, his RBI streak to four games and has recorded a hit in eight of his last nine games. Over that nine-game span, Cole is 11-for-32 with four doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, five walks and seven runs scored.
- RHP Roddery Muñoz tossed a perfect ninth inning Saturday night to secure his 12th save of the season. His 12 saves lead the Pacific Coast League.
- The Sugar Land bullpen has held opponents scoreless over the last three games, allowing no runs across 13 consecutive innings.
After an off day on Monday, the Space Cowboys travel to Oklahoma City for a six-game road series against the Comets. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher for Tuesday’s series opener with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm CT. 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.