Hunter Pence is making Cecil Cooper’s transition a lot easier.Houston’s rookie center fielder hit two homers and had a career-high five RBIs Friday to help the Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 for their third win in four games since Cooper became interim manager.

“What can I say? He’s a pretty special player. He’s a young man who will eventually be the face of our franchise, I think,” Cooper said.

“He’s not afraid to go up there (and) if he sees something he likes, he lets it go. Just a baseball player, a throwback kind of a baseball player. … He’s my kind of guy.”

Pence’s first career multihomer game featured a three-run shot in the fourth and two-run drive in the sixth. The homers gave the standout rookie 14 for the season, while helping Wandy Rodriguez (8-12) win for the first time since July 26.