The Astros have today off after losing last night to the Brewers, 7-2. This loss ended the Astros' win streak at 4, causing their record to fall to 10-5, still 1/2 a game in front of the Cubbies for the division lead. The 'Stros will start a home series tomorrow against the Pirates, so hopefully they will be able to bounce back.Yesterday I guessed that Pettite would recover from a rough start. He had a great game yesterday, giving up only 3 runs and striking out 8 through 7 innings. Unfortunately the hot bats that Astros have wielded of late faltered for Pettite. His record now stands at 1-3, however in all three of those losses, the Astros have combined to score a total of 5 runs, so I believe that with a little bit a run support, Pettite will be just fine.
There are reports today that Jeff Bagwell is thinking about having another shoulder surgery, to remove bone spurs in his ailing right shoulder. This surgery wouldn't necessarily allow him to return to the Astros, it would mainly be for every day living comfort. It is also possible that the surgery would be too dangerous because of the possibility that the spurs are too close to nerves. The best case scenario would be that the surgery would allow him to regain mobility in the shoulder that has bothered him for so many years, allowing him to return to the Astros, but the chances for this are remote.
Speaking of Bagwell, I believe it is sad if his career will be ended the way appears to have ended. While Bagwell was a great player, and I'm sure to be a hall-of-famer someday with his '94 MVP and his 440-odd HRs, the fall off of his numbers over the past two years has been very apparent. While you would love to see a great player like him be able to step down under his own terms when he feels like he should retire, I don't completely blame the 'Stros management for all but forcing the unhealthy Bagwell to leave. If Bagwell magically regains his health, I'm sure the Astros will jump to grab him, but that is very unlikely. It is a shame, however, how it has gotten a little ugly with the insurance company refusing to pay his contract, and that I believe could have been avoided, but I believe the situation is unfortunate overall, and it would have been hard to completely avoid it.
