"After Carlos Lee finished April hitting .183 with no home runs and five RBIs in 21 games, general manager Ed Wade wanted it known that he still expected his big left fielder to drive in 100 runs, as he's done each of the last five seasons, including three in Houston.

Wade might not end up correct, but Lee has made the prediction look a whole lot better lately.

Despite going without an RBI on Sunday in his 1-for-4 outing, he has still been on a tear in the category, driving in 28 runs in his last 29 games.

"I'm feeling a lot better, seeing the ball better and getting the bat through the zone better," Lee said. "I never thought it would be this long, but that's baseball."

At the true halfway point of the season, Lee had 41 RBIs, but suddenly 100 doesn't sound ridiculous. He would need 24 over the team's final 32 games — a pace equivalent to a 122-RBI season if the player plays every day.

Lee has enjoyed working with new hitting coach Jeff Bagwell but said most of the improvement came from within, not the Astros' change in hitting coaches at the All-Star break.

"I've played 12 years in the big leagues," Lee said. "I know my swing, and sometimes it takes you to fix it."

Wade relayed a story of a previous interview when he was asked to what he attributes the improvement of Hunter Pence, who has been on base for many of Lee's RBIs, and Lee.

"I attribute it to good players who got off to slow starts," Wade said. "It's not the formula you'd like to see, but all over baseball there were players getting off to slow starts.""