Lance Berkman

Nothing is better for a struggling Houston Astros team than a trip to St. Louis? That doesn't make any sense. St. Louis is in first place in the NL Central. Houston? They aren't in first place, or second, or third or fourth. Nope, they proudly reside in fifth place, one game back of the powerful Pittsburgh Pirates.

And this is after a three game sweep of the Cardinals.  

Astros baseball! After two eight game losing streaks, a third place finish isn't impossible, just improbable! I think that would be a great slogan for the rest of the season.   

Believe it or not, the Astros have won four games in a row; and three of those victories have come against the first-place Cardinals as Houston swept St.

Right about now, some may be questioning whether or not Houston’s turnaround is legit; especially after the Astros got swept by the Cincinnati Reds after winning eight of their prior 11 games.

But, let me tell you something: this team has begun the turnaround, and the Houston Astros are well on their way to contending in the National League Central this season.

Although they may not be the hottest thing to hit the diamond in April, May will likely be a different story and it will be a time for the Astros to prove to the doubters that they can and will contend in 2010.

Here are five re

The 2010 Astros can be best summed up by this stat: through 15 games, the pitching staff have more extra base hits (2) than left fielder and cleanup hitter Carlos Lee (1).

Certainly, Lee will snap out of it. Right?

Right?

It's not just Lee that has suffered offensive atrophy in the first three weeks of the season. The Astros managed nine hits in Thursday's 5-1 loss to Florida, but all nine were singles.

Four of the hits came with two out, which didn't get the 21,802 fans giddy for a rally most knew wasn't going to happen.

Extra baseball every once in a while is okay, but right about now the Round Rock Express are likely pretty sick of having to stick it out for extra innings.

Since Monday’s first pitch, Round Rock (the Houston Astros’ Triple-A affiliate) has battled through three straight extended games...as they aim for an extra innings-free contest (and a victory) this evening when the Express host the Omaha Royals.

By the time I decided to post this piece, Round Rock had thankfully held on to beat Omaha 5-2 in a normal nine inning matchup, with Wesley Wright picking up the win and Yorman Bazard

Game No. 17 of 162 in Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ summer-long journey featured a revived Jose Reyes and an impressive pitching performance from this week’s hottest pickup: Mike Pelfrey .

Game No. 17 – Chicago Cubs vs. New York Mets

Yes, it was wonderful to see Houston get within one game of being halfway to .500. They're 4-9 courtesy of a 7-5 win over the soon-to-be Miami Marlins (I'd call them the Florida Marlins, but I'm worried that noted Tampa Bay Rays fan Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea might send me an angry message, BROTHER!).

I was originally going to title this piece, “Five Reasons Houston Astros Fans Should Be Happy Right Now,” but during that momentary lapse of reason I guess I forgot the team is still 3-9 (regardless of playing well lately).

However, there are reasons to be optimistic, and we’re now going to quickly count down five positives as Houston heads back to Minute Maid Park for their April 20 series opener against the Florida Marlins.

Brett Myers, boasting an impressive 3.46 ERA, will take the hill on Tuesday as Houston aims to begin their home-stand on the winning track.

If the As

When the Astros scheduled their “Turn Back The Clock Night” for the middle game of the team’s series against the Phillies at Minute Maid Park, I highly doubt anyone thought Houston would still be winless at 0-5 come final pitch.

Two games later, and it’s not much better–with Houston’s Astros being blanked by the St.

Today, in one of my two day jobs (I work about 30 hours weekly at a newspaper and about 24 hours at a gas station), I traveled around Birch Run and Clio, Mich., and asked folks this question: "Whom should the Detroit Lions take in the upcoming NFL draft?"

I might as well have asked the people what the Houston Astros should do to improve their team.

Many of the Lions fans said defensive players while others said offensive players. One man said they should draft new coaches while one man, not surprisingly, wondered if it's possible for them to draft new owners.