Sugar Land spent most of Thursday night trying to undo one bruising inning, and by the seventh, the Space Cowboys had pulled within a run and pushed the potential tying run to third base. That was where the comeback stopped.
Las Vegas escaped that threat, added insurance in the ninth and handed Sugar Land a 7-5 loss at Constellation Field. The Space Cowboys’ rally made the finish tense, but the five runs Bryce Mayer allowed in the second inning proved too much to erase.
Sugar Land had supplied Mayer with a lead in the first. Cavan Biggio drew a two-out walk before Jason Schiavone sent a fly ball toward the wall in left. Devin Taylor leaped but could not bring it down, and Schiavone reached second with his first Triple-A double as Biggio scored.
The advantage lasted only until the next half-inning.
Mayer struck out Johnathan Rodríguez to begin the second, then walked Taylor and allowed Jack Winkler to reach on a fielder’s choice. Bryan Lavastida and Colby Halter followed with run-scoring singles, putting Las Vegas ahead 2-1.
Mayer struck out Davis Diaz and had a chance to contain the inning, but Cole Conn lifted a drive to right that carried out for his fifth homer. The swing completed the Aviators’ five-run inning and left the Space Cowboys chasing a 5-1 deficit.
Mayer recovered to strike out the side in the third and retired Las Vegas in order in the fourth, but the second defined his night. He took the loss after allowing five earned runs over four innings, striking out eight and walking four.
Sugar Land kept taking pieces out of the deficit. César Salazar walked and scored on Pascanel Ferreras’ groundout in the third. Salazar walked again in the fifth, advanced on Lucas Spence’s groundout and an error, then came home on Brice Matthews’ sacrifice fly.
Las Vegas restored its four-run cushion in the top of the fifth. Mayer walked Conn and Darell Hernaiz before Christian Roa entered. Roa struck out the next two hitters, but Trevor Austin could not handle Taylor’s grounder at second, allowing Conn to score for a 6-2 lead.
That was the only run allowed while Sugar Land’s first four relievers worked four innings. Roa, Alimber Santa, Kai-Wei Teng and Logan VanWey combined to keep Las Vegas from stretching the lead further, giving the offense room to make its move.
Salazar started the seventh with a single, his third time reaching base, and Spence and Ferreras followed with walks to load the bases. Luis Morales struck out Matthews and Schiavone, bringing Sugar Land to the edge of a wasted opportunity.
Zach Cole kept it alive. His hard grounder went up the middle, glanced off second baseman Jack Winkler and rolled into the outfield. Salazar scored, Spence raced home behind him, and Ferreras reached third as Cole took second. In an instant, the Space Cowboys were within 6-5, with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position.
Wander Suero entered and struck out Collin Price to strand both.
Salazar finished 1-for-2 with two walks and scored three of Sugar Land’s five runs. Spence doubled, walked and scored, while Schiavone went 1-for-4 with the first-inning RBI double. Sugar Land managed five hits and benefited from two Las Vegas errors, but could not produce the last hit its comeback required.
Jared Dickey opened the ninth with a double against Roddery Muñoz. After Muñoz struck out two, Brayan Buelvas lined a two-out double into center field, bringing Dickey home and extending the lead to 7-5.
Muñoz limited the inning there, but the extra run changed Sugar Land’s final assignment from finding a tying run to finding two. Jared Johnson retired the Space Cowboys in order in the ninth for his first save, closing the door on a comeback that traveled nearly all the way back from the damage of the second.