The Corpus Christi Hooks outlasted the Springfield Cardinals, 5-4, with a walk-off win in the bottom of the 12th inning before 3,251 fans at Whataburger Field on Monday night.
Both Cardinals 2B Bruce Caldwell and Hooks SS Alex Bregman helped power their respective offenses, each hitting two home runs in the game. Bregman's solo home run in the bottom of the 12th was the decisive blow.
Both sides got off to a powerful start, alternating innings with a home run through the first half of the contest. The Hooks (3-2) dealt the first blow with a first-inning two-run shot from SS Alex Bregman, opening a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals (3-2) responded right away in the top of the second inning. Facing rehabbing Astros RHP Lance McCullers, Jr., Caldwell belted a solo blast over the left field fence, bringing the Cards within one run, 2-1.
RHP Corey Baker tossed a scoreless bottom of the second, but then rehabbing Astros DH Evan Gattis struck with a solo home run in the bottom of the third, stretching the Hooks lead back to two runs, 3-1.
Caldwell and the Cards had a quick retort in the top of the fourth. With one down, Caldwell again crushed a solo shot, his second of the day and third of the year, making it just a 3-2 deficit for Springfield.
With RHP John Brebbia taking over on the mound for the Cardinals to start the fifth, the Hooks once again added a second run to their lead. Back-to-back singles started the stanza, before Brebbia struck out Bregman for the frame's first out. However, the right-hander then hit Gattis with a pitch, loading the bases with one down. Brebbia battled back with a strikeout against RF Derek Fisher, but 3B J.D. Davis worked an RBI walk to force in a run. Brebbia rebounded with an inning-ending strikeout, striking out the side despite the Hooks increasing the lead to 4-2.
The Cardinals, though, evened it out right away with two runs against RHP Edison Frias in the top of the sixth. With one down, 3B Paul DeJong sparked the charge with an infield single. 1B Luke Voit then ripped an RBI double into the left field corner, plating DeJong for Voit's first Double-A RBI. Caldwell promptly brought in Voit with an RBI single, the third RBI of the night for Caldwell and his league-best 7th to start the year, evening the score at 4-4.
Both bullpens then took over and alternated scoreless frame after scoreless frame through the top of the 12th. After Brebbia's 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, RHP Chris Thomas dominated the Hooks through 3.0 perfect innings, striking out five. RHP Joey Donofrio (L, 0-1) escaped a bases-loaded jam with a pair of strikeouts in the 10th, before dealing a 1-2-3 11th. The three relievers combined to strike out 11 Hooks from the fifth through the 11th, and all 11 were looking strikeouts.
However, the Hooks had one more home run left in their arsenal. Donofrio struck out CF Teoscar Hernandez to start the bottom of the 12th, but then Bregman came through with the game-winning solo shot, as the Hooks walked off with the 5-4 victory in 12 frames.
Hooks LHP Michael Freeman (W, 1-0) tossed the scoreless top of the 12th to register the win.
