Sugar Land Splits Doubleheader After Taking Game One

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (16-16) took game one of the Saturday doubleheader 6-1, on the back of Colton Gordon’s gem and back-to-back home runs but dropped game two against the Round Rock Express (16-16) 8-2 on Saturday night at Constellation Field.

GAME 1:

LHP Colton Gordon’s (W, 3-0) five innings of one-run ball and five runs scored in the final three innings by the Space Cowboys, including back-to-back home runs from Luis Guillorme and Tommy Sacco Jr., led to a convincing 6-1 Sugar Land victory over Round Rock in game one of the Saturday doubleheader.

The Express loaded the bases in the first inning on three singles, including two that were under 76 mph off the bat, but Gordon left them loaded, registering two consecutive strikeouts to retire the side.

Sugar Land struck first in the bottom half. Jesús Bastidas led off with a double and Shay Whitcomb slapped a single into left, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. Brice Matthews grounded into a double play, scoring Bastidas as the Space Cowboys went up, 1-0.

Gordon allowed a lead-off double in the second, but sat down the next three batters, including striking out Kale Emshoff looking to strand the runner, and faced the minimum in the third by inducing a double play.

Chad Wallach doubled with two outs in the fourth inning, but Gordon punched out Evan Carter to end the inning and posted his fourth consecutive zero.

The Space Cowboys opened the game up in the home half. Brice Matthews socked a lead-off single into left, the first Sugar Land hit since the first inning, and Collin Price walked, putting two on with nobody out. Tommy Sacco Jr. drove them in with a two-RBI, sun-aided double to left as Sugar Land stretched their lead to 3-0. César Salazar drilled a single into right field and Kenedy Corona’s productive groundout plated Sacco Jr.

Round Rock scored their first run in the fifth with a two-out RBI double from Cody Freeman, but Gordon limited the damage with a popout to end the frame.

RHP Shawn Dubin made his second appearance with Sugar Land on Major League Rehab in the sixth and did not allow a run with two strikeouts, including punching out Carter to retire the side.

The Space Cowboys put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth. Luis Guillorme lifted his first home run of the season, a solo shot to right, before Sacco Jr. also smacked his first long ball of the year, a 408-foot blast to the same part of the park, as Sugar Land scolded back-to-back homers for the first time in 2025.

BACK-TO-BACK JACKS. Sacco Jr. sends one 408-feet to right! pic.twitter.com/HMaQKl8ZgZ

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) May 3, 2025

RHP Miguel Castro received the seventh and left two runners on to lock down the 6-1 win.

GAME 2:

Jesús Bastidas cracked a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the deficit to one run, but a four-run seventh from Round Rock was too much for Sugar Land to overcome as they fell, 8-2.

LHP Brandon Walter struck out one in the first, but an unearned run came around to score as Sugar Land fell behind, 1-0. However, he responded by setting Round Rock down in order in the second.

Walter posted a scoreless third with another punchout to begin the inning and received help from his defense as Bastidas made two excellent plays at third base to retire the side.

Round Rock plated another run due to an error in the fourth as Sam Haggerty singled, stole second and scored on a throwing error by Bastidas.

Shay Whitcomb whacked a base knock up the middle with one out in the bottom half, Sugar Land’s first hit of the game, but Matthews grounded into a double play ending the frame.

The Express extended their advantage to 3-0 as Justin Foscue hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, but Walter retired the side with his fourth strikeout of the evening.

Collin Price pummeled his sixth double of the season to start off the bottom of the fifth before Bastidas belted his fourth home run of the year 343-feet to right-center, cutting the deficit to one as Sugar Land trailed, 3-2.

BASTIDAS BOMB 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/UZI3HPNM89

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) May 4, 2025

Walter came back out for the sixth and faced the minimum on only 10 pitches and added another strikeout to his ledger, turning in his first quality start of 2025.

Round Rock opened the game up in the top of the seventh with five runs, including a two-run home run from Evan Carter. The Space Cowboys went down in order in the seventh and fell 8-2 in game two of the Saturday doubleheader.

NOTABLE:

• Shay Whitcomb singled in game one and recorded two base knocks in game two, his 14th game reaching base in his last 16 contests. Over that span, Whitcomb is 19-for-58 (.328) with eight doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI and six walks.

• Brice Matthews walked in his first at-bat of game two, running his season total to 24 and his 10th walk in his last 11 games. Matthews came into Saturday tied for third in the PCL in walks. With a single in game one and his walk in game two, he stretched his on-base streak to nine games after getting on in both contests.

• In game one, Jesús Bastidas extended his on-base streak to eight games with a single and homered in game two, pushing his streak to nine games. Over that span, Bastidas is 10-for-29 (.345) with six doubles, two home runs, five RBI, six walks and 10 runs scored.

• Colton Gordon started the game with 4.2 scoreless innings on Saturday, setting a new Sugar Land season-high in scoreless innings with 12.0 dating back to April 20. The previous high was also Gordon at 10.2 innings from March 28 to April 9. The southpaw fired 56 strikes out of his 80 pitches, a 70% strike rate, his highest of the season. Sugar Land is 6-1 in games started by Gordon this year.

• Brandon Walter went 6.0 innings on Saturday in game two, his longest outing of the season and his lengthiest appearance since June 11, 2023 with the Worchester Red Sox. Walter has also allowed two earned runs or less in five of his seven appearances in 2025.

• The Space Cowboys hit back-to-back home runs for the first time in 2025. It was their first time hitting back-to-back jacks since game two of the PCL Championship series and the first time in the regular season since June 7, 2024 at Salt Lake.

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys’ series finale against the Round Rock Express begins on Sunday at 2:05 pm CT. RHP Aaron Brown gets the ball opposite RHP Dane Dunning. The game can be seen live on the Bally Sports Live App or MLB.TV and can be heard anywhere at SLSpaceCowboys.com. Season Memberships for the 2025 Space Cowboy season, including Full and Partial Season membership plans, can be purchased online here.

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 are the reigning Pacific Coast League Champions and Triple-A National Champions. They began playing as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. 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). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans for 2025 by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.