Daniel Brown - MercuryNews
With the Giants facing a quick turnaround from a night game to a day game, Manager Bruce Bochy joked that he would just sleep in his office Wednesday night.
Wherever he stayed, it was bound to be a restless night.
The Giants lost 6-3 to the Houston Astros after going 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
As if that wasn't enough for some tossing and turning, the Giants were victimized by the only two cool spots in the Astros' offense: Jose Cruz (hitting .125) drew a leadoff walk and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh, and Brad Ausmus (who hadn't homered since August) hit a two-run shot to put the game away.
"It was frustrating," Bochy said. "We had some opportunities to cash in and it came back to haunt us."
There was also the daily Lance Berkman home run. Houston's one-man heat wave drilled a two-run shot in the first inning. It extended the first baseman's hitting streak to 13 games, during which he is batting .570 (28 for 50) with seven doubles, six home runs and 17 RBIs.
About the only thing as predictable as Berkman's big hit was the Giants' inability to deliver in the clutch. They entered the night hitting .238 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 more against the Astros.
After a spirited rally to tie the score 3-3 in the second, the Giants' offense was never heard from again. Typical of the frustrating night, Ray Durham was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double leading off the fifth.
"We have guys battling, and that's all we can ask," Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand said. "There's no lack of effort."
The turning point came with the score tied in the seventh. That's when reliever Jack Taschner made the mistake of walking Cruz, who was 1 for 15 as a pinch hitter this season.
As ill-advised walks go, this one ranked only slightly ahead of walking the plank. Cruz predictably came home when Miguel Tejada drilled a two-out single to center off Billy Sadler, who had just entered the game.
"We just don't get away with those leadoff walks for some reason," Bochy said. "It seems like they always come back to haunt us."
Tejada's hit made it 4-3. The Astros added two runs in the eighth when Ausmus, the veteran catcher more known for his defense, hit his first home run since Aug. 8.
It raised his average to .240.
The rest of the Astros' offense had been much more robust, as Giants starter Pat Misch discovered in the first inning. It took him only four batters to fall behind 3-0.
With one out, Kazuo Matsui singled and stole second. He scored on Tejada's single before Berkman blasted a fat change-up into the left-field seats.
"It was right there," Misch lamented. "If he didn't hit that one, he'd be kicking himself."
But just when it looked as if Houston would set the night ablaze, Misch pulled it together. The left-hander did not allow another run in his six total innings, finishing with a season-high six strikeouts and zero walks.
The Giants, meanwhile, came back to tie the score in the second. Rowand hit a two-run homer - his fourth long ball in his past 14 games - to cut the score to 3-2.
Misch drove in the other run on a safety squeeze.
After the early action, however, a pitchers' duel broke out. Neither Houston starter Brian Moehler (five innings) nor Misch surrendered another run.
"He gave us a chance," Bochy said of his starter. "He regrouped and pitched well. We just couldn't add on."
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