The "City by the Bay" has never been friendly to the Astros, so it doesn't come as a complete shock the team left town winless against the Giants.

Astros get swept in San Francisco

Rookie pitcher Matt Albers threw well enough to keep the Astros in the game until the 7th, when the G-men blew the game wide open.

Albers did his best to keep the Giants off the board in the first inning after putting himself into trouble by issuing two walks. He got the next two batters, but threw a wild pitch to Bengie Molina who swung at the ball for a strike. However the runners moved up a base and Molina followed with a single threw the hole on the left side of the infield and the Astros were down 2-0.

The Astros trailed 3-0, before the slumping Morgan Ensberg showed some signs of life. He belted a home run to left field trimming the Giants lead back to 2, but that was all the scoring the Astros would do.

In the 7th, Ray Durham singled home Randy Winn to up the lead to 4-1, and then Molina put the game out of reach with a triple scoring 2 more runs.

The Giants would tack on 3 more runs in the bottom of the 8th, Winn getting the big hit, a two run double as the Astros bullpen faltered badly.

The Astros managed only 5 hits in the game, 3 runs total in the series as their record falls to 21-25.

Notes:@ Astros RHP Brad Lidge flew back to Houston to have his right knee examined after experiencing irritation. He was listed as day-to-day. ...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, sporting a black Giants jacket, attended the game as a guest of the team and sat in the owner's box with Peter Magowan next to the San Francisco dugout. She received a warm greeting from Hall of Famer Willie Mays before the top of the sixth and he signed some balls for her. She was booed and cheered when making her exit after the seventh. ...

Russ Ortiz, who began the year as the Giants' No. 5 starter, pitched a scoreless ninth in his first outing since coming off the DL on Monday with an irritated nerve in his elbow.