You rarely see a rookie changing a team’s face in the way Hunter Pence has done it with the Houston Astros. It seems like a fairytale. Of course there are several other players such as Carlos Lee with a main role in this unfolding daily drama. But it sure sounds interesting to study how this youngster whose Major League promotion was asked by many fans, has influenced in the way the ‘Stros are playing these days, after four straight wins and finally showing a record above .500. Just take a look at this excerpt from tonight’s postgame notes courtesy of the Astros Media Relations department.

OF Hunter Pence went 4×4 with his fourth home run and has hit safely in seven consecutive at-bats (over eight plate appearances) from 5/15 (2nd inning)-5/16 (8th inning)…he has reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances during that span, including a fourth-inning walk on 5/15…Pence is the first Astro to collect seven consecutive hits (one or more game) since Vinny Castilla from May 31-June 1, 2001…he is one hit away from tying the club record (8 consecutive hits, Art Howe; Sept. 1 (Gm 2)-6, 1980)…additionally, Pence is the first MLB rookie to collect a hit in seven or more consecutive at-bats since SF OF Jason Ellison in 2005 (Ellison had a hit in eight consecutive at-bats).

It wasn’t an explosive rout, just like last night. But it was good enough, and I can’t agree more with what the Houston Chronicle says today on its Website: this was a good team effort, enough for ensuring an Astros win over the Diamondbacks 5-2.

Wandy Rodriguez gets a win after a long drought, tossing five solid innings; the bullpen performed as expected, and the offense came in baby steps: Carlos Lee going 2-for-3 with a RBI, Craig Biggio batting 2-for-4. Adam Everett and Brad Ausmus had run-scoring doubles. Hunter Pence did an amazing catch.

Baseball is a team sport which excels on the sum of individualities. That’s exactly what the Astros did today. Now, they have won 8 of their last 12, and we can say something we haven’t said in quite a while: they won consecutive series.

I’m sorry for not writing recently. Some things both in and outside the Astros organization have prevented me from blogging (Our reaction to the whole Roger Clemens situation is on our Spanish-language website, astrosdehouston.com). However, we’ve seen the Astros playing better ball these days. There are cases such as last night, with Brandon Webb practically holding the offense for a ransom; but tonight we saw a completely different picture altogether for ‘Stros fans.

Four homers, Hunter Pence going yard for the second time this season, going 3-for-4; Roy Oswalt with a great outing (as usual); and Mike Lamb claiming for a bit more of the spotlight, just like he did last year.

One interesting tidbit: Pence has 11 RBI in his last 13 games. Houston is 8-5 in its last 13 games.

Last week, we spoke to Astros GM Tim Purpura, for an upcoming article on our program/magazine Cronicas de los Astros. One of our questions was regarding the club’s farm system, ranked 22nd in all of baseball by Baseball America magazine. Purpura told us that he wasn’t really paying attention to such rankings; since he considered them highly subjective, thus distanced from the reality he and his staff deal with every day. He considers that the true measure of the organization’s success is the amount of players promoted to the Major Leagues. The first example in his list was Matt Albers.

That’s why Purpura must have felt satisfied yesterday, seeing the remarkable performance made by the two youngest guys in the Astros fold. Albers shut out the Cardinals for 7.1 innings; and Hunter Pence belted his first career grand slam, inflicting more pain to the Busch faithful for the 13-0 win. We knew Pence’s stuff was legit, but this goes beyond the most optimistic forecast.

For our story, we were told on and on by all the people we researched with, that Purpura’s advantage was his experience in the player development ranks, which gave him the skills to evaluate his team’s reality and make decisions, not just thinking about the here and now, but also the short and medium terms. This looks like one of those decisions, and if the gamble pays off, it seems like the reward will be quite handsome.

History repeating itself.. again. Woody Williams does a good job, his teammates can’t insure him a win because of offensive woes. Astros have a slim margin; then Albert Pujols, of all people, turns the scoreboard around with a double. Cardinals beat Astros. Wouldn’t blame you if you switched to watch news on Paris Hilton going to "jail".

And with plenty of reason for that. Hunter Pence has received an eagerly-awaited promotion to the Majors, and now most eyes are on him. So far, the kid has not disappointed. He shot his first Major League hit on a sellout game this Saturday; going 1-for-3. On Sunday, he went 2-for-4.

But one guy does not make a team alone. And the Astros need plenty of hitting such as Pence’s to avoid things such as Woody Williams losing and not showing a win yet for the season, despite having a solid start, with 5 hits and 3 runs allowed in 6 frames. Roy Oswalt can tell you he’s had more than just one start wasted due to this offensive drought.

In today’s defeat Vs. Milwaukee, which ended 3-1 (the only run being produced by a Mike Lamb PH homer), the Astros left 13 men stranded.

So we don’t know for real who the 2007 Astros are: Are they the club which shot 13 hits and scored 10 runs on Saturday? Or is it the the Sunday version, the one being most recurrent these days; having a lot of trouble trying to get their runners at least advancing closer to home.

Bringing Pence up is a welcome first step on the right direction, but there’s a long way to go.

ASTROS PURCHASE CONTRACT OF PENCE

Randolph designated for assignment

 

HOUSTON,
TX \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/b\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial\”\>? The\nHouston Astros announced following tonight?s game that the club has\npurchased the contract of outfielder Hunter Pence from Triple A Round Rock. The\nAstros also designated left-hander Stephen Randolph for assignment. The\nannouncement was made by General Manager Tim Purpura.\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003cp\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial\”\> \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003cp\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial\”\>Pence, 24, is appearing in the Major Leagues for the first\ntime in his career. He hit .341 (29×85) with three home runs, 10 doubles and 19\nRBI in 22 games for the Express. Pence played in 19 Spring Training games for the\nAstros this March, hitting .571 (16×28) with two homers and nine RBI. A\nsecond-round selection by the Astros in 2004, Pence earned Texas League\nAll-Star honors in 2006, batting .283 with 28 home runs and 95 RBI at Double A\nCorpus Christi.\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003cp\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial\”\> \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003cp\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial\”\>Randolph\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial\”\>, 32, appeared for the Astros in two\ngames this season, logging a 9.00 ERA (1ER/1IP) in two relief\nappearances.  In five games for Round Rock this year, he is 2-0 with an\n0.84 ERA (1ER/12.1IP), walking one and striking out 18.\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003cp\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial\”\> \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003cp align\u003d\”center\” style\u003d\”text-align:center\”\>\u003cb\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Arial\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold\”\>?\nASTROS ?\u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/b\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003cp\>\u003cfont size\u003d\”2\” face\u003d\”Times New Roman\”\>\u003cspan style\u003d\”font-size:10.0pt\”\> \u003c/span\>\u003c/font\>\u003c/p\>\n\n\u003c/div\>\n\n\u003c/div\>\n\n\n”,0]
);

UNLOCK TABLES;
—
–//–> ? The
–Houston Astros announced following tonight?s game that the club has
–purchased the contract of outfielder Hunter Pence from Triple A Round Rock. The
–Astros also designated left-hander Stephen Randolph for assignment. The
–announcement was made by General Manager Tim Purpura.

—
—

 

—
—

Pence, 24, is appearing in the Major Leagues for the first
–time in his career. He hit .341 (29×85) with three home runs, 10 doubles and 19
–RBI in 22 games for the Express. Pence played in 19 Spring Training games for the
–Astros this March, hitting .571 (16×28) with two homers and nine RBI. A
–second-round selection by the Astros in 2004, Pence earned Texas League
–All-Star honors in 2006, batting .283 with 28 home runs and 95 RBI at Double A
–Corpus Christi.

—
—

 

—
—

Randolph, 32, appeared for the Astros in two
–games this season, logging a 9.00 ERA (1ER/1IP) in two relief
–appearances.  In five games for Round Rock this year, he is 2-0 with an
–0.84 ERA (1ER/12.1IP), walking one and striking out 18.

—
—

 

Where do we start? This has been a series in which Astros bats went AWOL, pitching had both sublime and ridiculous moments, sometimes even some of both at the same game; and stranding men on base was turned into an art form. The Astros left 13 men on base today.

And when suddenly, an usually erratic Wandy Rodriguez starts to pitch in an efficient fashion, Houston gives up to the rule of a Tony Armas with a bloated 11.57 ERA.

The Astros stand at six straight losses now; they will try to turn their odd luck around against the Brewers at Minute Maid. There was a remarkable lack of clutch, and we don’t know what happened to that team which started a winning streak that was stopped cold at Milwaukee.

Will there be any moves? Tim Purpura has resources, and he knows he has a certain amount of pieces he can deal with. It might be too soon but, let’s face it, if this pace (or lack thereof) keeps on going, there will be plenty of people on the hot seat.

This series against the Brewers has been interesting, to say the least. Last night, Craig Biggio jacks a Grand Slam and gives Houston their advantage for a win against Milwaukee.
However, Brad Lidge appears at the ninth frame with a somewhat comfortable advantage, and walks become his cross to bear. Phil Garner tried, we think, to put him yet again in a final inning situation to set him loose; the fact is there’s something (we don’t know what yet) that doesn’t allow Lidge to feel good with himself when handling the ninth. What is it? We’ll wait and see. Just don’t put him in there for the 9th yet.

Tonight, things were a bit different. The Astros tried to stage a late-inning comeback but they came up short. J.J. Hardy homered twice and maybe because of that, Carlos Lee stares at his image. The Astros winning streak stops at 5 games, and thinking of it, that’s not bad at all, most especially for a ballclub used to early slumps and is going to play most of its April games away from Minute Maid Park.

If there’s something the Astros have shown us these days, is the many resources they have in order to get the job done.

On Wednesday, Jason Lane came off the shadows, and on Thursday, Luke Scott threatened to keep on his torrid pace from last season, jacking a homer in a 2-for-3 evening for him, complete with a double and 4 RBI. Scott was undoubtedly the big factor for Houston’s victory over the Reds 8-6.

This outfield depth sometimes might even be creepy. This competition (involuntary or not) for keeping themselves on the starting lineup is amazing. Just look at what happened during the 2-game Cincy series. Jason Lane has 9 driven in and 4 homers and is not an everyday starter. Just yet.

Things are such that people are not really concerned (hey, it’s still early and plenty to go, so no reason to panic over here) over the fact that Lance Berkman is batting .213 and has only hit a dinger.