With three words following Sunday’s walk-off win over the Pirates, Hunter Pence won over a fan base.

“Let’s Go Eat.”

Three words and a simple sentence later, T-shirts were printed, twitter followers were gained and a southern boy was truly embraced by a city so close to a second parade in four years that it can taste it.

Hunter Pence with mouth open and ready to eat following his first Phillies homer against the Giants on Thursday.

“Let’s Go Eat.”

I’ll admit, I wanted Pence but did not want to give up Dom Brown or Vance Worley for him. I still stand by that. Pence is a nice player, but not a star. He’ll be hard pressed to be the next Jayson Werth. But, can he be a guy who helps the Phillies lineup crank it up a notch or two? The early results indicate that is the case.

In his six games in red pinstripes, Pence is hitting at a .360 clip (nine-for-25) with a homer, three doubles, five RBI and four runs scored. He has a six-game hitting streak to start his Philly career.

The guy is a career .290 hitter and to expect him to continue hitting at a batting-champ level is something nobody dreams of. However, a .300 hitter is just what the lineup needed.

The Phils have scored 33 runs with Pence — 5.5 per game. While it’s a relatively small sample size — OK, a very small sample — that does represent an increase from the 4.3 runs per game before Pence’s arrival. Combine Pence with a hot Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, plus another .300 season from Shane Victorino, and the Phils offense suddenly becomes one that can give the Phils runs.

While the Phils championship core remains in place, the fact remains that Pence is another productive piece and his bat will get the Phillies fat. Imagine the buffet line at the parade this fall.

“Let’s Go Eat.”