I know their was a game on, but between the Hunter Pence news and the podcast we were recording I hardly noticed.
News broke on twitter in the 4th inning that Pence had been traded thought It wasn't until the bottom of the 5th it became official as Jason Michaels came in to replace Pence in right field. Shots of Pence hugging his teammates while fighting back tears played on the screen will be my last image of Pence in an Astros uniform. I really wish it hadn't come to this but this marks just another necessary step on the way back to prominence for the Astros. Last year it was older players such as Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt who we had to say good bye to. This year it's younger players such as Pence and possibly Michael Bourn who we will have to begrudgingly let go.
Initially I'm not happy with the return of Jonathan Singelton, Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid and still another player to be named later. Maybe I bought too much into the hype machine and the possibility that the Astros could of gotten Domonic Brown, but Ed Wade had all the leverage and for a guy trying to save his job this doesn't sound like a job saving trade. Still it's a fair move for a player like Hunter Pence.
Maybe he's trying to save his job by showcasing another player that he's drafted in J.D. Martinez who has been called up. If you're looking for a positives from this move it's that Ed Wade will have three players make their Major League debut in the last two years from his draft classes. It's been a while since the Astros have had high profile prospects called up in back to back years let alone two being called up in the same year.
I certainly think there are positives to take away from this deal I just can't help feeling like it could of been better.
As for the game at hand, it wasn't much of one for the Astros.
Jordan Lyles again pitched well enough to win going 6 innings and allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 3. Enerio Del Rosario then followed giving up another 2 earned runs in .2 innings of work. For the Brewers Randy Wolf went 7 innings allowing 0 runs while striking out 5 and walking 3. The Brewers bullpen then followed with 2 perfect innings from Takashi Saito and Kameron Loe.
Offensively 4 Astros had hits, but none collected more than one. Jose Altuve started a new streak. Jason Bourgeois, Angel Sanchez and Humberto Quintero all chimed in with hits of their own. Pence was 0-1 with a walk for his final game with the Astros.
Which is fitting because as much as he hustled for the Astros he only walked out of the Astros clubhouse this evening.