The Sugar Land Space Cowboys, Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, put together a great season from start to finish. Led by a top notch pitching staff, including the top three pitchers in ERA (Gusto, Blubaugh and Gordon), the Space Cowboys went 93-56 in the regular season.
On Wednesday night, they took on the Reno Aces in game two of the Pacific Coast League Championship Series.
Miguel Ullola, who only had one Triple-A outing under his belt, got the start after Ryan Gusto was scratched before the game. He tossed a scoreless first inning, working around some traffic and picking up 2 strikeouts. Former Astros prospect Humberto Castellanos started for Reno.
In the bottom of the first, Pedro Leon put Sugar Land on the board connecting on a 2 run HR that was 108 MPH off the bat and a projected distance of 442 feet. The offense continued their hit hitting in the third inning with a 2-out rally. Trey Cabbage connected on a solo HR to right field. Cooper Hummel then followed that up with another solo homer to right, making it 4-0.
After dealing with the first inning trouble, Ullola settled down and pitched really well. He ended up going 4 innings allowing just 2 hits, no runs and racked up 5 strikeouts. He threw 74 pitches and picked up 13 swings and misses. In a big time spot, Ullola came through with a really good start for the Space Cowboys.
“Ullola stepped up and did exactly what we would love him to do,” manager Mickey Storey said. “Gave us everything he had.”
The offense would load the bases in the 5th inning but come up empty as the game entered the 6th inning with Sugar Land leading 4-0. Ray Gaither, who tossed a scoreless 5th inning, came out for the 6th inning but allowed a lead off home run and was removed for Seth Martinez who allowed a run before he was pulled for Logan VanWey who retired the next two batters, with two guys on, to keep the score 4-2.
“It was runners on, I knew my job was going to be get outs,” VanWey said. “I knew I’d have to bridge to somebody. Just go in and throw strikes and let my defense do the work.”
Forrest Whitley came on for the 7th inning and tossed a scoreless inning with a strikeout showing tons of emotion as he maintained the 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the 7th, the offense added some insurance on a Trey Cabbage sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
The bullpen, which has been a strength of the team, continued to pitch well. Luis Contreras came on for the 8th and tossed a scoreless innings with a strikeout. In the 9th, Wander Suero pitched a scoreelsss inning as he picked up the save and secured the Sugar Land Space Cowboys first PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP!!
“Special,” Storey said on winning this Championship. “To get these guys back to experiencing this and feeling what it feels like to celebrate winning and be a part of something special.. it’s been an unbelievable year.”
Congrats to Mickey Storey and the Sugar Land Space Cowboys on a phenomenal season. Now its on to the Triple-A Championship in Las Vegas this weekend!
Be sure to follow on X, @AstrosFuture, follow me on Instagram, @AstrosFuture and like my Facebook page, facebook.com/AstrosFuture.
