Giants give Rockies too many chances

(07-05) 10:16 PDT Denver - --

"Worn out."

Those were the only words Aubrey Huff could push through his lips as he trudged through the clubhouse. Huff was one of five Giants who played all 15 innings in Sunday's 4-3 loss to Colorado, a 5-hour, 24-minute test of leg strength and lung capacity at high altitude, the longest game in Coors Field history.

With their bodies and minds spent after losing three of four in the series, the Giants reached the midpoint of their 2010 schedule at 41-40. That is a major letdown after they won 88 games last year and were supposed to contend. Instead, they have gone backward. Too often, like Sunday, they have finished one step short.

They showed fortitude as they scored three times in the eighth inning to tie the game, one on Andres Torres' first career inside-the-park home run. Edgar Renteria spoke the truth when he said, "We played hard all 15 innings."

But the Giants could not dig deeply enough to push that extra run across, even after Huff hit a leadoff triple in the 13th.

With thunder crackling nearby, and every one of manager Bruce Bochy's players used except for four starting pitchers, the Giants lost in the 15th when Dexter Fowler, who destroyed them all weekend, hit a leadoff triple off Guillermo Mota and scored on Todd Helton's sacrifice fly.

"I told the guys, this was a tough loss, but they battled their hearts out," Bochy said. "We just couldn't get that last timely hit when we needed it."

Where have you heard that before? It has been a theme for these Giants, with so much heart but not enough hits with runners in scoring position.

"We need to be more consistent on both sides of the ball," Bochy said. "The pitching got away from us during this streak. The offense has been up and down. It comes down to more timely hits. That's what we need."

Huff's 13th-inning triple led to some second-guessing of earlier strategy. Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and Travis Ishikawa originally batted behind Huff and combined for four hits, but Bochy removed all of them.

Sandoval and Ishikawa left in double switches, and Bochy had Eli Whiteside pinch-run for Posey in the eighth with the Giants down a run.

Whiteside represented the go-ahead run and is faster than Posey, Bochy said. With reliever Rafael Betancourt's slow delivery, Bochy said he might have had Whiteside try to steal second. Before he could, Ishikawa hit the tying single, which sent Whiteside to third. Renteria grounded sharply to shortstop Clint Barmes behind the mound to end the inning.

Return again to the 13th inning. After Huff tripled, pinch-hitter Pat Burrell and Whiteside struck out. Juan Uribe was walked intentionally, and Renteria hit into a force.

Colorado had the potential winning run in scoring position with less than two outs in every inning but one from the ninth on. Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Denny Bautista, Chris Ray, Brian Wilson and Mota all engineered exceptional escapes.

Mota had the toughest jam in the 14th. Colorado had the bases loaded with no outs and failed to score. Mota struck out Barmes. Then, when pinch-hitter Miguel Olivo flied out to shallow left, Melvin Mora said "to heck with it," tagged at third and dared Torres to throw him out at home.

Torres did.

Mota could not pull the same trick again in the 15th, and a long day turned into a fitful night.

E-mail Henry Schulman at hschulman@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle