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PCL Sugar Land Space Cowboys

Hamilton Drives in Five in Sugar Land's 8-6 Win

July 21, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys News Release


EL PASO, TX - After their thrilling comeback victory on Friday night, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (60-34, 11-8) took Saturday night's contest against the El Paso Chihuahuas (40-55, 9-11) 8-6 at Southwest University Park.

Sugar Land got the scoring started in the second when back-to-back singles from Pedro León and Cooper Hummel put runners on the corners with no outs. RHP Adam Mazur (L, 1-3) retired the next two Space Cowboys before David Hensley ripped an RBI single to center to put the first run on the board. The next batter, Quincy Hamilton, launched the fourth pitch he saw to the right field corner, scoring two while sliding into third with a triple to give the Space Cowboys a 3-0 lead.

LHP Colton Gordon (W, 5-0) retired the first six batters he faced with ease before finding some trouble with the bottom of the Chihuahuas lineup. In the third, El Paso got two back on a double from Eugy Rosario, driving in Óscar Mercado and Kevin Plawecki, who had reached on a throwing error and a two-bagger. Gordon recovered to strikeout the final two batters of the inning to preserve the Sugar Land lead.

In the top of the fourth, the Space Cowboys loaded the bases up on a double from Omar Narváez, a walk from Dixon Machado and a base hit from Hensley. Hamilton came through with a two-run single to make it 5-2 Sugar Land.

LHP Jackson Wolf took over for the Chihuahuas in the fifth and hit Will Wagner with a slider on the back to open the stanza. León came up and smashed his 18th home run of the season to give Sugar Land a 7-2 advantage after five frames. The next inning, Hamilton led off with a solo jack to straightaway center to give him a career-high five RBIs on the night, putting him a double shy of the cycle.

Gordon found himself in a jam with runners on the corners and no outs in the bottom of the sixth after Rosario doubled and Tirso Ornelas grounded a ball in a tough spot for the shortstop Machado. On the next pitch, Matthew Batten grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to score a run for the Chihuahuas but cleared the basepaths for Gordon. The southpaw returned for the seventh and surrendered a triple and a groundout that made it 8-4. Despite this, Gordon turned in a career high 6.1 innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs while striking out a season-best eight batters, marking his second quality start of the year.

RHP Forrest Whitley relieved Gordon with one out in the seventh and a fielding error from Machado put Mercado on first. Plawecki singled Mercado over to third, and Mason McCoy grounded into a force out at second, slimming El Paso's deficit to three. McCoy stole his way to third while Rosario drew a walk, but Whitley struck out the tying run in Ornelas to end the frame.

In the eighth, RHP Kaleb Ort (H, 7) took over and gave up an RBI double to José Azocar, his first earned run allowed since his very first appearance as a Space Cowboy, dwindling Sugar Land's lead down to two. Graham Pauley sent Azocar to third on a single, bringing up the tying run to the plate once again. Ort was able to get the final two outs on punchouts to right the ship. RHP Wander Suero (S, 20) came in for his league-leading 20th save of the season and faced the minimum as he closed out an 8-6 Space Cowboys victory.

The Space Cowboys will play the series finale against the Chihuahuas on Sunday night. Sugar Land's LHP Eric Lauer (2-2, 5.11) will take the mound against El Paso's RHP Nabil Crismatt (0-1, 7.56) for a 7:05 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV or Bally Live.

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