Sometimes, you just don't have it

Giants take a loss in Denver, without much protest

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)

Some games smell like losses even before the first pitch is thrown. Nobody on a team would admit that, but it is the truth.

The Giants had one of those Tuesday night. After flying from Washington and arriving at their hotel at 3 a.m., they sent 0-for-his-career Pat Misch to the mound against Aaron Cook, who owned eight of the Rockies' 24 wins this season.

Colorado's 10-5 victory went according to Hoyle and ended the Giants' road winning streak at seven games. Manager Bruce Bochy delivered a concession speech of sorts in the second inning when he left his bullpen dormant as the Rockies stomped on Misch for four runs.

Bochy would not cop to the fatigue excuse, even if his team spent four days in the heat and humidity of D.C. before the long and late trip to Colorado.

"I can't say that," he said. "I thought we played hard. We faced a good pitcher tonight. We had some good at-bats. We just got down too much. It looked like we had a lot of life. We battled hard tonight.

"We were close to getting back in the ballgame a couple of times but we made a couple of baserunning mistakes. We swung the bat well. The pitching just wasn't there tonight."

Misch lasted four innings and fell to 0-7 for his career. It might be a long time before he gets another crack at that first big-league win, at least as a starter. Bochy said before the game that Kevin Correia, his side muscle mended, will rejoin the rotation for Sunday's home game against Oakland as long as he has no physical setbacks.

Misch's immediate future thus becomes sketchy. If the Giants decide they need a fresh reliever from the minors, Misch, who probably cannot throw again until Friday, could be sent down to create space.

The 26-year-old lefty has good stuff and can get hitters out, much the way Kirk Rueter did. But Misch has to find a way to limit hittable pitches in the strike zone, a skill that Rueter mastered.

"It is frustrating because I know I have the confidence enough to pitch," Misch said. "I feel I have a good idea of what I'm doing out there. Sometimes this isn't the easiest game in the world."

Especially on a night when Coors Field lived up to its thin-air reputation. In fairness to Misch, he gave up seven singles. Once he left, the baseballs really started to fly.

Vinnie Chulk, who has struggled big-time, allowed a three-run, off-field homer by Todd Helton in the fifth inning that extended Colorado's lead to 7-1. In the seventh, Alex Hinshaw allowed a two-run Garrett Atkins homer to make it 10-2. Hinshaw struck out the next three batters.

After the Giants scored 25 runs in four games at Washington, they failed to muster much offense against Cook when it mattered. Jose Castillo had three hits and scored twice, once on a pinch, RBI triple by John Bowker.

Brian Horwitz hit his second big-league homer in the ninth, his first as a pinch-hitter, against Luis Vizcaino.

Aaron Rowand had to be the most frustrated Giant. He made three outs on groundballs that required above-average defensive plays from Atkins, the third baseman. Asked how many of the three he thought were hits off the bat, Rowand said, "Three of them."

The Giants blew a terrific chance to worm their way back into the game in the fifth inning when they trailed 4-0. With runners on first and second and one out, Ray Durham batted for Misch and hit a long drive to center. Willy Taveras failed to catch it and was charged with an error.

Travis Denker, who had to hold at second until he saw the ball fall, raced home. Omar Vizquel, right on his heels, stopped at third. Durham, apparently thinking Vizquel would keep running, rounded second and headed for the occupied third base. He was tagged out in a rundown.

The Giants trimmed their deficit to 4-1, but the rally was curtailed. When Fred Lewis struck out, it was finished, and when Helton hit his three-run homer in the bottom of the inning, the Giants were finished, too.