Early Deficit Too Much For Sugar Land To Overcome

Mancini And Cosgrove Steady The Bullpen In Relief

By Raymond Brown/Sugar Land Space Cowboys

12:23 AM EDT

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (19-22) dropped game two of their six-game series against the Tacoma Rainiers (19-22) on Wednesday night at Cheney Stadium by a score of 6-1. Tacoma struck first in the opening frame, using a single, a double and a home run to give the Rainiers an

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (19-22) dropped game two of their six-game series against the Tacoma Rainiers (19-22) on Wednesday night at Cheney Stadium by a score of 6-1.

Tacoma struck first in the opening frame, using a single, a double and a home run to give the Rainiers an early 3-0 advantage.

RHP Joey Mancini settled things down out of the bullpen, turning in 3.0 scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and striking out four. LHP Tom Cosgrove followed with a scoreless frame of his own and surrendered only one hit.

RIGHT BACK AT HIM? NO PROBLEM 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/7647ImqMeC
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) May 14, 2026

Sugar Land broke through in the top of the sixth. Kellen Strahm led off the inning by hammering a double before moving to third on a hard-hit ground ball from Daniel Johnson. James Nelson later brought Strahm home with an RBI groundout, trimming the deficit to 3-1.

KELLEN STRAHM PULLS INTO SECOND WITH A DOUBLE 😤 #Ascend pic.twitter.com/9fnwY05MT3
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) May 14, 2026

The Rainiers answered in the eighth inning and added insurance after working a pair of walks and collecting three singles, plating three runs to push their lead to 6-1. The Space Cowboys were unable to generate a late rally as Tacoma evened the series on Wednesday night.

NOTABLE:

RHP Joey Mancini provided a strong effort out of the bullpen, spinning 3.0 scoreless innings with two hits allowed and four strikeouts.
James Nelson continued his on-base streak on Wednesday night, going 1-for-4 with an RBI to extend his on-base streak to 22 games. Nelson also has an active seven-game hitting streak.
CJ Alexander worked a walk on Wednesday night which extended his on-base streak to 10 games. Alexander joins Nelson as the two lone Space Cowboys with a 10-game or longer on-base streak.
LHP Tom Cosgrove turned in a scoreless inning on Wednesday night, allowing just one hit in his 16th appearance of the season, tied for second-most in the Pacific Coast League. The outing also marked Cosgrove’s 13th scoreless appearance of the year.

The Space Cowboys continue their series with Tacoma on Thursday night. LHP Colton Gordon is scheduled to start against RHP Casey Lawerence for a 9:05 pm CT first pitch. The game 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.