With Reese holding strong as the Dodgers shortstop, Brooklyn agreed to a trade that sent Pendleton to the Milwaukee Braves as part of a four-team February 1953 transaction that involved Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Phillies, as well as the Dodgers. He made his MLB debut at 29 on April 17, 1953. On August 30th of that season, Pendleton hit three home runs in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, to become just the second rookie in Major League history to hit three homers in a single game, joining his teammate Eddie Mathews, who dit it a year earlier.