Star Performer of the Week May 16 thru 22

The Astros had another tough road trip this week. Atlanta and St. Louis both swept Houston in two game series’ before the Astros won two of three in Toronto. Hunter Pence and Wandy Rodriguez helped secure the victory today. That should help to make the long flight back to Houston a little more bearable. Pence hit his sixth homerun and has now strung together four consecutive multi-hit games. Rodriguez went six innings and picked up his third win of the season in what was his second quality start of the week. Both veterans earn honorable mention for the week. But one Astro had an outstanding run on the road trip to win Star Performer honors. That player is…

… Wilton Lopez!

Lopez pitched five scoreless innings in four relief appearances. The Astros righty allowed only one hit and two walks while striking out four. In his last two outings of the week Lopez secured two holds, allowing Mark Melancon to pick up two saves in the team’s only wins. Lopez appears to have returned to last year’s form after struggling with elbow problems earlier this season. This is a good sign for the Astros as the bullpen has been a problem area so far this year. Brad Mills has been searching for some consistency from his bullpen and it looks like Lopez and Melancon could be able to provide it going forward.