Peña scores twice, Dubin pitches sixth, as Sugar Land drops series opener

Written by Ashton Grissom, SFL Writer | Photo credit: Ashton Grissom

The Space Cowboys welcomed shortstop Jeremy Peña and relief pitcher Shawn Dubin to the team for Tuesday night’s game against the Tacoma Rainiers for their rehab assignments.

Peña was the designated hitter for Sugar Land and batted second. In his first at-bat, Tacoma’s starting pitcher Emerson Hancock got the best of him with a three-pitch strikeout. Hancock once again struck out the star right-handed hitter in a full count battle in the bottom of the third inning.

Peña managed to reach on a hit-by-pitch and a walk in his final two at-bats and scored each time. Dubin also made an appearance in the sixth inning, where he allowed one hit and one earned run and tallied a strikeout. Despite having two guys with plenty of MLB experience on the roster, the Rainiers struck early with an RBI single by Rhylan Thomas and a two-run home run by Harry Ford.

In the bottom of the inning, Jesus Bastidas hit his 28th double of the season and drove in Jacob Hurtubise for their first run of the game. Tacoma took advantage of several walks and had many key hits to power their way to a 7-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning. Collin Barber cut into the lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth and was Sugar Land’s last run of the night.

Leody Taveras hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, and Tacoma took game one of the series 8-3. With the loss, the Space Cowboys fall to 51-49 on the season, and starting pitcher Tyler Ivey is just 2-9 on the year.

Next up, Sugar Land starts game two against the Rainiers at Constellation Field on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.