RHP Ethan Pecko spun 7.0 scoreless innings as the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (28-38) defeated the Sacramento River Cats (39-25) 2-0 on Thursday night at Constellation Field.
Sugar Land opened the scoring in the bottom of the second. Pascanel Ferreras singled and Carlos Pérez worked a walk to put two runners aboard before Jack Winkler lined his 10th double of the season, bringing home Ferreras and giving the Space Cowboys a 1-0 advantage.
Pecko settled in early and never allowed Sacramento to gain any momentum, scattering just two hits over his 7.0 innings while striking out four. The right-hander retired 14 out of his last 16 batters he faced, only allowing five base runners through his stretch on the mound while throwing 80 pitches, 53 for strikes.
The Space Cowboys added an insurance run in the sixth inning. Trenton Brooks ripped a double to right field and later came around to score when Pérez drove a double into right field, extending Sugar Land's lead to 2-0.
Sugar Land's bullpen carried the lead the rest of the way. RHP Miguel Ullola tossed a perfect eighth inning with one strikeout before RHP Jayden Murray retired all three batters he faced in the ninth. Combined, the Space Cowboys pitching staff allowed just two hits and struck out five as Sugar Land secured the victory in game three of the series.
NOTABLE:
- RHP Ethan Pecko tossed 7.0 shutout innings on Thursday night, allowing just two hits while striking out four. The outing marked the longest appearance of his career. Over his last two starts, Pecko has thrown 11.0 scoreless innings, surrendering only five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
- Pecko’s outing was the 15th appearance in Space Cowboys history for a pitcher to throw at least 7.0 innings in an outing and the second of the year, joining RHP Jason Alexander who threw 7.0 innings on April 7 vs. Tacoma.
- Trenton Brooks went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored on Thursday. It was Brooks’ first multi-hit game since joining the Space Cowboys. In his two games with Sugar Land, Brooks is 3-for-8 (.375) with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
- Pascanel Ferreras finished 1-for-3 with a run scored, extending his hitting streak to eight games. Ferreras has recorded a hit in every game since joining the Space Cowboys.
- RHP Miguel Ullola delivered his fourth scoreless appearance since moving to the bullpen. Ullola has now held opponents scoreless in four of his five relief outings. He also registered the second, third, and fourth hardest pitches of the game, reaching a top velocity of 96.9 mph.
- Thursday nights shut out marks the Space Cowboys first shutout win since April 3 at Jacksonville.
The Space Cowboys will look to even the series on Friday night as LHP Josh Hendrickson takes the mound for Sugar Land opposite LHP Carson Whisenhunt for Sacramento, with first pitch set for 7:05 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 2026 season are available now and can be purchased at slspacecowboys.com/tickets.