CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Veteran catcher Brian Esposito, who has hit 30 home runs during the course of his nine seasons in the minor leagues, clubbed what may very well be the most memorable homer of his career Thursday night at Whataburger Field.
Esposito socked an opposite-field, two-run home run into the visitors' bullpen in right field in the bottom of the ninth to give the Hooks a 6-5 win over their parent club, the Houston Astros, in the first exhibition game in Corpus Christi involving a Major League team since 1958.
Esposito's heroics came after Mitch Einertson opened the ninth with a sharp single to left off reliever Chris Salamida, currently assigned to the Hooks but "borrowed" for the evening by the Astros. The walk-off homer was the third opposite-field blast to right for the Hooks. Jhon Florentino's two-run shot in the seventh knotted the game at 2-2, while Drew Locke's solo effort leading off the eighth brought the Hooks to within a run of the Astros at 5-4.
The story of the evening for the Astros was starting pitcher Wandy Rodriguez, who allowed just one hit over six innings while striking out 11. He fanned six in a row at one point and seven of the last eight men he faced. The only Corpus Christi batter to reach base against Rodriguez was nine-hole hitter Wladimir Sutil, who yanked a double down the left-field line with two outs in the third.
With Rodriguez cruising, the Astros built a 2-0 lead after four innings. Singles by Darin Erstad and Michael Bourn and two subsequent wild pitches by Hooks starter Felipe Paulino gave Houston a 1-0 lead in the third. Doubles by Miguel Tejada and Hunter Pence in the fourth made it a 2-0 game.
Paulino pitched well, charged with two runs on four hits and a walk over six frames. He struck out three and retired six of the last seven batters.
A Whataburger Field record crowd of 9,118 witnessed Thursday's unique exhibition.
The Astros continue their pre-season schedule Friday night when they host the Cleveland Indians at MinuteMaidPark. The Hooks are next in action this Sunday afternoon at two o'clock when they travel to The Dell Diamond for an exhibition against the Triple-A Round Rock Express.
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