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Giants get swept out of Houston
By Jeremy Harness August 14, 2008 |
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A three-run eighth inning gave the Houston Astros a 7-4 win over the Giants Thursday at Minute Maid Park, giving the Astros a four-game sweep of the ever-so-declining Giants and, at the same time, making former Giants reliever LaTroy Hawkins a winner despite the fact he pitched to only one batter. A solo homer by Fred Lewis, who is now batting .283, gave the Giants a one-run lead in the top of the sixth inning, but that lead wouldn't last for long. Houston got a run in the seventh to tie the game when Darin Erstad's single brought in David Newhan. One inning later, disaster struck for the Giants, as was frequently the case during this series. The Astros made the Giants use three different pitchers in the inning, including Alex Hinshaw, who gave up a two-run homer to Lance Berkman that gave Houston the lead. Three batters later, Tyler Walker entered the game, and Humberto Quintero immediately tagged him for a single that scored Geoff Blum. On the plus side, speedy second baseman Eugenio Velez showed positive signs at the plate while going 2-for-4 and scoring a couple of runs. Meanwhile, Randy Winn quietly put together a solid series, collecting two more hits on Thursday and knocking in a pair of runs, one of which came on a third-inning double that knocked in Velez. The Giants now head to Atlanta to face the Braves in a four-game series that pits a pair of fourth-place teams (the days of these two teams battling it out for the division pennant in 1993 and then in the playoffs in 2002 seem like a mighty long time ago, doesn't it?). Matt Cain (7-9) will take the mound against Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens (11-7) in the series opener Friday at Turner Field. |
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