After dispatching the Astros in walk off fashion last week, the AA Hooks beat the AAA Express in an exhibition game last night. Casey Hudspeth, Polin Trinidad and T. J. Burton combined on a 7 hitter. Hudspeth started and gave up just three hits and no walks in four innings as the starter. Trinidad came in and pitched well allowing four hits and no walks in four innings of relief. Trinidad allowed the only Express run thanks to his own throwing error.
Meanwhile the Hooks used situational hitting and took advantage of an Express error to plate three runs in the 7th.
With the score knotted at 1-1, Mitch Einertson opened the seventh with a double to left-center. Brian Esposito’s fly ball out to right moved Einertson to third. Flores’ hard bouncer off the glove of third baseman Matt Kata went for a single and an RBI to give the Hooks the lead for good at 2-1.
Wladimir Sutil’s infield hit put two men on for DeLome, who smashed a single to right to plate Flores to make it 3-1. On the play, right fielder Yordany Ramirez sailed a throw past catcher J.R. Towles, an error that allowed Sutil to score to give the Hooks a 4-1 advantage.
Manager Luis Pujols is liking what he has seen so far from his 2009 Hooks:
“It was a well-played game, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Pujols said. “I’ve always believed that if you play the game the right way, then you’ll win some games. I was telling (pitching coach Stan Boroski) that I’m very happy with my team this year. I think we’re going to do a lot of good things.”…”I like the way this group has (jelled) really quickly,” Pujols said. “It seems like everyone has known each other for a long time. The atmosphere is very good, and I like that.”
Tommy Manzella had three of the seven hits for the Express.
These two have a rematched scheduled in Corpus Christi on Tuesday. Brad James will be the Hooks starter.
Aggressive Attitudes Towards Developement
“It was a shocker,” said outfielder Mitch Einertson, entering his fifth full pro season. “It was an eye-opener.”
That was the reaction to the cuts last week of Tip Fairchild, Billy Hart & Ole Sheldon. Those cuts were also an indication of the new way of doing things in the Astros farm system.
“We’ve talked about how we’re going to create an express lane in the organization,” Wade said. “We talked about it when we made Al Pedrique the minor-league field coordinator. We’ve talked about how if a player shows, one, the ability, but more importantly, the makeup to be able to jump a level, then we’re going to give him the opportunity to do that.
“Part of the makeup aspect is being able to handle failure, because we’re going to move some guys and invariably, some of them are really going to struggle at a level. It’s the guys who can mentally handle going back a level and regrouping that will be the (ones who separate themselves).”