Hunter Pence

The nonwaiver trade deadline is less than two weeks away and the Yankees (as usual) are taking the lead, with the Phillies flying under the radar. So far. The Yankees have approached the Colorado Rockies about righthander Ubaldo Jimenez, who followed his sensational 2010 season with a slow start this spring. The Rocks have not yet decided to trade Jimenez, who is 5-3 with a 2.56 ERA since the end of May. But the Yankees match up well with Colorado, which likes top hitting prospect Jesus Montero, but also would like some top pitching prospects.

PHOENIX - Hunter Pence is hitless in his last 15 at-bats, but that is not why he found himself on the bench Monday. Pence was sidelined by a sore left shoulder apparently caused by his diving for the ball on Sunday. Pence is day-to-day, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said, but he made that statement before a doctor saw Pence. That was scheduled to happen before Monday's series opener against Arizona. "He felt like he couldn't play," manager Charlie Manuel said.

EVERY SITUATION is unique, every decision dependent on countless variables. But here's how the chessboard set up for Pirates manager Clint Hurdle in the bottom of the eighth inning: Pittsburgh was up by a pair of runs. With Chase Utley and Ryan Howard due to bat, lefthander Joe Beimel came in to start the inning in place of starter Jeff Karstens. Utley grounded out. Howard doubled. Now what? Raul Ibanez, another lefthanded hitter, was on deck. With first base open, Hurdle had some choices.

Hunter Pence went into Saturday night's game against San Diego leading the Phillies in home runs (7), RBIs (23) and extra-base hits (14), but his .256 batting average, .297 on-base percentage, and .778 OPS were well below his career averages of .291, .341, and .826. What's more interesting is how manager Charlie Manuel and hitting instructor Greg Gross treat Pence when he is struggling. In essence, they leave him alone. "Hunter chases bad balls at times," Manuel said.

Houston manager Brad Mills wants his players to focus on each game individually and not dwell on the mistakes they've made in past losses. The Astros seemed to follow that advice in a 7-1 victory over Florida yesterday, hardly resembling a team that dropped seven of its first eight. J.A. Happ pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning and drove in two runs with a double, and the Astros tallied a season-high 16 hits, six for extra bases. Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee and Matt Downs also knocked in runs.

WHAT DO I want with a Hunter Pence bobblehead doll? This is not a rhetorical question. I am asking it directly to my Shane Victorino bobblehead figure sitting on the shelf right opposite me. He shrugs his shoulders. When the Phillies handed out Pence figurines the other night at the Park, it made me wonder why they would honor a player now in another club's uniform. Would the San Francisco Giants - which Pence now calls home - have handed out Willie Mays bobbleheads after he was traded to the Mets?

You've recently been fired as general manager of the Houston Astros and your cellphone rings. It's Ruben Amaro Jr. calling. He wants to know if you'd be interested in rejoining the Phillies as a special consultant. That's a big step down in title and pay from your previous job with the organization. It means you now report to several people, including Amaro, who used to report to you. What do you do? Ed Wade had to think about it. "I said, 'Let's park it in neutral so I can get my head around a lot of things,' " Wade said.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - You yearn for a simpler time. When conversations about Ryan Howard centered around strikeouts, not swollen sutures. When no one wondered where Chase Utley was because he was always, always there. When spring was about getting in your work and counting down these final days, when uncertainty meant the number of pitches Roy Halladay would be limited to on Opening Day, not the meat of the batting order. Maybe this is just what naturally happens with an aging, um, veteran team.

The Houston Astros don't want to make too much out of one win. But in a season with so few, this one felt good. Brett Myers didn't allow an earned run in seven innings and the lowly Astros snapped the mighty Tampa Bay Rays' six-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory last night in Houston. Hours after the last-place Astros (15-27) confirmed that ace pitcher Roy Oswalt had requested a trade, the worst team in the National League beat baseball's top team, handing the Rays just their 12th loss in 42 games.

Craig Biggio joined the 3,000 career hits club last night, and Carlos Lee added a big hit of his own for the Astros. Lee's grand slam in the 11th gave the Houston Astros an 8-5 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies. Lee's shot to leftfield off Brian Fuentes (0-3) came on the first pitch. Biggio singled in the 11th, tying a career high with his fifth hit. Hunter Pence followed with a double before Lance Berkman was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Biggio became the 27th player to reach the mark with a single to centerfield in the seventh inning.