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).”

“It’s a long spring and a long drive,” Pujols said. “Everybody took off about a day ago from (Kissimmee, Fla.). Some of the guys pretty much drove straight for 19 hours, and we came here and didn’t have a chance to hit on the field (before the game).

Brad James had what he called an “average day” after staying in the game following a batted ball to his right leg. He still managed to go 4 innings (71 pitches/51 strikes).

“He got out of trouble and that’s what you call pitching,” Pujols said. “I believe he threw the ball very well.”

For the Express, Jerad Gothreaux, struck out 7 in his 4 innings of work.

Jared came in and gave us four real strong, solid innings, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Round Rock manager Dave Clark said. “He’s a guy we’re going to really count on, and he went out there tonight and showed he deserved the baseball.

The highlight of the game came from Yordany Ramirez, who made a running catch right in front of the wall for the first out of the game. He also went 2 for 4 at the plate.

“It was incredible and you’re going to see a lot more of that,” said Express first baseman Mark Saccomanno. “He just goes out there and tracks down a lot of balls; he’s going to save a lot of runs out there.”

Sunday they traveled down to Corpus Christi and the Express unpacked their bats while the Hooks bats were still in transit. The Hooks brought in some ringers to pitch and it didn’t help. Reggie Abercrombie hit the first offering from Chris Sampson into the left field berm to set the tone for the night. Sampson ended up going 6 innings (57 pitches/ 43 strikes) and then doing extra work in the bullpen.

“It’s a lot of fun actually. I don’t want to say it was weird. I knew my goal coming in was just to come in here and get my work, get innings,” Sampson said. “I’d like to do good and finish my spring training on a positive note. But I was mainly focused in coming out here getting my innings in, getting my pitches built up and getting ready for Chicago on Friday.”

J.R. House homered off Brian Bogusevic in the 8th and Danny Klassen homered off German Melendez in the 9th.

Dave Clark who was promoted to Round Rock after a successful stint as a manager in Corpus Christi, had a good day at his old stomping grounds.

Being in the visitors’ clubhouse and dugout, two places he’d never been during his time here, was something different.

“It was strange, it really was,” Clark said. “I’m leaning on the left side when I’m usually on the right side. But once the game got started, it was baseball as usual.”

He also avoided taking the familiar right turn from the third-base coach’s box into the home dugout.

“I kept telling myself I wasn’t going to do it,” Clark said. “Plus, if I had, I wasn’t going to hear the end of it.”

The Lexington Legends released their roster on Sunday. The roster features 7 returning players, most notable among them are Leandro Cespedes, Nick Moresi and Max Sapp. They gained 15 players from TriCities, 1 from Greeneville and two from outside the system. The two newcomers to the Astros organization are pitcher Jay Pacella and infielder Roberto Mena.