“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.