MINOR LEAGUE NOTEBOOK Pence impressing more than girlfriend with HRs Outfielder at Lexington hits 12 in 33 games By BRIAN MCTAGGART Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Asked about a weekend when he hit five home runs in three games, Lexington out fielder Hunter Pence joked about wanting to impress his girlfriend, who was in town for the series. ADVERTISEMENT "I did really well for her," he said. Pence, the Astros' first selection in last year's draft, has impressed everyone in the organization by the way he has swung the bat this year. He entered Monday hitting .359 with 12 homers and 30 RBIs in 33 games for the Astros' Class A affiliate in Kentucky. "The kid has a pretty good idea at the plate and has very good power to all fields, and he makes adjustments very well," Lexington manager Tim Bogar said. "That is going to take him a long way." Pence, a 6-4, 220-pound righthander, was taken in the second round of last year's draft out of Texas-Arlington. He hit .296 with eight homers and 37 RBIs in 199 at-bats for short-season Class A Tri-City in 2004. With his first spring training under his belt, Pence is feeling more comfortable as a professional player. "It's been great to finally get a taste of what it's really like with my first spring training," he said. "It's a great experience to see all those (major leaguers) working out at the same place you're working out at. You just get to know what it takes and what you have to do. "It's been a pretty wild ride, and I'm enjoying every minute of it." Pence, 22, was named Lexington's offensive player of the month for April and hasn't slowed down in May. He hit two homers in consecutive games Friday and Saturday against Asheville and added his South Atlantic League-leading 12th homer on Sunday. "The good thing about him is he goes up there every at-bat with the idea that it's do-or-die for us," Bogar said. "You get to the point when you think, 'OK, what pitch is he going to do it on?' "It was actually pretty surprising to me they pitched to him the other day. They had first base open and they brought in a righty to face him, and he ended up hitting a two-run homer to put us in the game. He's making the best of his opportunities." As one of the Astros' top minor-league prospects, Pence may not be in Lexington much longer, so he's trying to relax and soak up every moment. "I'm having a good time with it," Pence said. "I love Lexington and the fans are great here. The minor leagues are a wonderful experience and it's great to be playing in front of all these fans and against tougher competition. Baseball is what I love to do, and I'm just having a good time." No support Class AA Corpus Christi fell to 1-9 in one-run games with a 1-0 loss at Midland on Saturday. The Hooks are 14-23 in the Texas League and in third place in the Western Division, 11 games behind first-place Midland. "It just seems like we make one mistake and it's why we lose games," manager Dave Clark said. "You can't make mistakes in this league. The fact there's only eight teams and it's very competitive, one mistake will cost you, even if we make it early in the game." The Hooks, who split a doubleheader in Midland on Monday, began the day with the best ERA in the Texas League (3.00), but had scored the fewest runs (124). "We've got great pitching and the defense has been good," Clark said. "You try to play mistake-free baseball, which is hard to do, but you try to minimize it as much as you can, and that's what we're trying to do now. "Once we can run off four or five games in a row, this team is going to start looking a lot better. That time is near." --

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