Hunter Pence hit three-for-four with a grand slam yesterday to carry the Astros past the Cubs, 4-2.

Pence, who hit .322 with 17 HR and 69 RBI in his rookie season last year, was projected to hit anything from 15 to 30 home runs this season, depending on who you asked. Yesterday’s slam was his fifth of this year, and it brought him to 27 RBI. He’s been raising his average point-by-point over the last ten games, going 16-for-39 to go from .273 to .293, but he hasn’t shown much power. Pence has four doubles in the month of May, and his last home run before yesterday was on May 4th.

Pence’s slam was all the Astros needed to give Chicago starter Ryan Dempster his second loss of the season. He pitched six innings to give up six hits and two walks, striking out five; the outing brought his ERA to 2.70 and WHIP to 1.06, signs of just how good the rest of his season has been. But before you add him to his team, you should see what chart he showed up on in Mike’s recent post.