Maybe we're going to have an offense worth writing home about this year after all.  Lifted up on the bootstraps of Miguel Tejada, the Astros had another huge offensive performance in Cincy last night, featuring a 7-run fourth inning, and have now scored 30 runs in their past 3 games.

This is the 40th time in franchise history that the team has scored 30 runs over three consecutive games, and it's the first time the team has managed it since August 29th of 2006, when another 7-run inning, this one in the 8th vs. the Brewers put the capper on a three game runscoring spree that had started in Pittsburgh Last year's team once scored at least nine runs in four straight games, but because in the one game they didn't score 9, they scored 10, never scored more than 28 in any 3game period during the 4-game streak.

The 2008 Astros become the first team in franchise history to manage such a three-game streak in the month of April.  Previously the earliest any Houston team had managed the feat was in 1974, when the Lee May-led 'Stros scored 33 runs in a three game period that ended on May 1st.  That particular streak featured an 18 - 2 pasting of the Cubs in which May went 5 for 5 with 2 homers.

Of the 40 times the feat has been accomplished, 36 of them have come since Jeff Bagwell was a rookie in 1991, and 17 have come since the team left the Astrodome after the 1999 season.  It was the 2000 team that accomplished the feat most, doing it 9 times, despite not notching their first streak until July 24th.    During the month of September when the team was long out of contention, Richard Hidalgo had perhaps the best month in team history, and the team, ignited by Reeshard, had five individual streaks where they averaged ten runs a game for the month.

Only two other teams have had seasons in which they managed as many as five such streaks:  the 1994 team--led by the other great month in team history, Jeff Bagwell's July--had six, and the 1999 team had five.

And again, none of these teams got rolling until the hot summer rolled around.  Perhaps even greater things are in store for this team, having managed such a thing in April.

First check might be today, when the team sees if they can become the first team since the 2004 team to average ten runs a game over 4 straight games.