RHP Ryan Weiss fired 8.1 innings of shutout baseball, marking the longest outing in Space Cowboys history, to lift Sugar Land (41-32, 73-74) past the Las Vegas Aviators (42-31, 86-60) 4-0 on Friday night at Constellation Field.
After allowing back-to-back singles to put two runners on in the second inning, Weiss did not allow another baserunner to reach scoring position for the remainder of his outing, facing the minimum in six of his nine innings. The righty gave up one of two remaining baserunners in the third when he hit a batter with a back foot breaking ball, but induced a groundball double play to kick off a string of seven-in-a-row retired after that. A Jared Dickey single was the final hit allowed in the ball game, as Weiss retired the last 11 batters he faced.
Sugar Land jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. Jason Schiavone led off the inning with a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Zach Cole followed with an RBI single to open the scoring for the Space Cowboys before advancing to second on a wild pitch and moving to third on a throwing error. Collin Price then worked a walk to put runners on the corners before Raynel Delgado followed with a fielder’s choice, scoring Cole to extend the Sugar Land advantage to two. Trevor Austin then smashed an RBI double to bring home Price before Brice Matthews sent a fly ball deep to center field, good for a sacrifice fly that scored Austin and pushed Sugar Land’s advantage to 4-0.
The Space Cowboys threatened again in the bottom of the fifth. Schiavone hit a one-out single before a strikeout put two outs on the board. Zach Dezenzo followed with a double to put runners on second and third, but another strikeout ended the inning and stranded both runners in scoring position.
Weiss struck out the first batter he faced in the ninth before his night came to an end. The righty finished with 8.1 innings, allowing just four hits while striking out seven for his second quality start of the season. RHP Alex Santos II entered in relief and quickly induced a flyout and a groundout to close out the 4-0 shutout.
NOTABLE:
- RHP Ryan Weiss threw 8.1 shutout innings, the longest outing in Sugar Land history, surpassing RHP Ryan Gusto’s 7.1 innings on August 4, 2024 at Round Rock. Weiss threw a first pitch strike to 21 out of the 28 batters he faced, and his 8.1 shutout innings is the longest outing of his professional career. Weiss’ outing was the third-longest scoreless outing by a minor league pitcher this season trailing Thomas Pannone of Nashville and Aidan Cremarosa of Charleston (9.0 IP).
- Jason Schiavone went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored Friday evening. It was Schiavone’s first multi-hit game in Triple A, and he has recorded a hit in three of his four games since being named the Astros Minor League Player of the Year on Tuesday. Since receiving the award, Schiavone is 4-for-11 with a double, a home run, two RBI, four walks and two runs scored.
- Zach Dezenzo went 1-for-4 with a double Friday night. The double extended his on-base streak to 12 games. Over that span, Dezenzo is 8-for-37 with three doubles, four RBI, 10 walks and four runs scored.
- Trevor Austin went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI on Friday night, recording his second extra-base hit of the season with Sugar Land. His previous extra-base hit came on September 11 at Oklahoma City. His RBI was the first of his Triple-A career and his first RBI since August 29 when he was with Corpus Christi at Amarillo.
- Brice Matthews recorded a sacrifice fly in the second inning on Friday night, giving him an RBI in back-to-back games.
- Zach Cole went 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored on Friday evening. Cole has now notched an extra-base hit in back-to-back games and in three of his last five games.
Sugar Land will look to win back-to-back games on Saturday night. The Space Cowboys have not yet announced a starting pitcher while the Aviators will start RHP Jackson Finley for a 7:05 pm first pitch. 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.