SUGAR LAND, Texas — The Sugar Land Space Cowboys had an unforgettable offensive explosion on Friday night.
In a tied game against the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the Astros AAA affiliate scored 17 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
A single by Alex De Goti drove in Korey Lee to start the inning and ended with 23 men coming to the plate in a 58-minute inning. In total, the Space Cowboys had 10 hits, including just one home run, and nine walks. Sugar Land scored 12 of their 17 runs with two outs in the inning.
The Dodgers ended up using four pitchers that threw a combined 108 pitches, ending the inning with a Yanier Diaz strikeout. It was Diaz's third at-bat in the inning after also hitting a single and a home run.
The 21 runs by the Space Cowboys were also a franchise record. They scored 20 earlier this season in a game where they hit seven home runs.
The 17 runs would've tied a modern-day record set by the Boston Red Sox in 1953. The all-time MLB record is 18 runs by the current-day Chicago Cubs, set back in 1883 when they were known as the White Stockings.
While minor league records are harder to come by, there's one out-of-this-world performance the Space Cowboys can't touch.
The Buffalo Niagaras scored 58 runs in the eighth inning of a game on June 8, 1869, against Columbus. The final score of that game was 209-10.
