Michelle Smith - San Francisco Chronicle
With a 6-0 lead after three innings and Tim Lincecum on the mound, the Giants had to like their chances of beating the Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon.
That is why there was so much self-flagellation in the clubhouse after the Astros capped a long, hot day at AT&T Park with an 8-7 victory.
Reliever Tyler Walker took both the brunt of Houston's comeback and the blame after the game, sitting on his chair with a towel over his face well after his teammates had cleared out.
He was on the mound in the eighth when Houston tied the game with a four-run rally, including a solo homer by Carlos Lee and a three-run shot by pinch-hitter Darin Erstad.
But it was Vinnie Chulk who ended up with the loss after giving up a solo homer on the first pitch of the ninth inning to red-hot Lance Berkman. Lincecum, making his bid for a 6-1 start, settled for the no-decision.
There was also a costly wild pitch to Geoff Blum on strike three that gave life to Houston's comeback.
Walker called the 1-0 fastball to Erstad a "poorly executed pitch" and lamented that he was behind in the count on too many hitters.
"That might have been one of the worst pitches I've thrown all season," Walker said of the pitch to Erstad. "You can basically blame this loss on my poorly executed pitches. This game should have been over. We had a four-run lead and six outs to get.
"I put it right in his wheelhouse. It's just embarrassing."
On the other side of the room, Chulk was beating himself up over the high change-up to Berkman that was the game-winning run.
"With a guy hitting the ball like he is, you can't make a mistake like that," Chulk said. "That pitch was supposed to be down, maybe in the dirt. I knew I wanted a changeup down on that first pitch. I didn't get to throw him another one."
Berkman was the man you'd least want to face with a tie game in the ninth. He finished the game with two hits and three RBIs and was 7-for-15 in this series with three homers and seven RBIs, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.
"It might be the best comeback I've seen since I've been here," Berkman said. "Just because of who was on the mound for them, the getaway day, a bunch of factors."
The Giants hadn't given up a six-run lead and lost since Sept. 8, 2000.
"It was nice to get out to that big lead. We haven't been able to do that much this year," said Giants right fielder Randy Winn, who was 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. "It's nice, but it's small consolation when you don't win."
When Lincecum left the game after six innings, following a laborious effort that included 105 pitches and 10 strikeouts, the Giants were up 7-4.
Lincecum cruised through the first three innings without giving up a hit before Houston warmed up in the fourth.
After giving up a leadoff single to Kazuo Matsui and a double to Hunter Pence, Lincecum was tagged by Berkman for a two-run single to right. Lincecum got two outs before Mark Loretta singled to left to make the score 6-3.
The Giants pushed the lead back to 7-3 when Omar Vizquel scored on a throwing error by Loretta.
"You get a six-run lead and you like your chances," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, "with Timmy on the mound and our guys were fresh late. That is a good-hitting ball club. You tip your hat. They took advantage of some pitches and hit the ball out. That's what did us in."
The Giants had staked Lincecum to the 6-0 lead with a two-run first inning and four in the third, including an RBI double by Winn, an RBI single by Aaron Rowand and a two-run double by John Bowker.
After collecting 12 hits and seven runs through the first eight innings, the Giants went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to Houston closer Jose Valverde.
No comments:
Post a Comment