Giants limp home after 3-1 loss to Nationals, winless road trip

WASHINGTON — As the Giants grew desperate for a win on this time-shifted, heavy-lidded trip, manager Bruce Bochy expressed a hope for his team to play smarter, not harder.

OK. What about madder?

Even if they weren't a team on tilt, umpire Phil Cuzzi's fickle strike zone would've upset the cart in a 3-1 loss at Nationals Park on Sunday night. Ryan Vogelsong received the first ejection of his career, Bochy followed him up the dugout ramp, and the Giants will drag themselves home winless after six games in Miami and Washington.

Keeping with the weeklong theme, the Giants lost after yielding a home run. Wilson Ramos dented a pitch from George Kontos for a tiebreaking shot in the sixth inning.

The Giants gave up at least one home run in all six games on the trip, and all of them were difference makers; three of the Giants' losses were by one-run margins, and only one was decided by more than two.

Their wrath was externally focused, though. And it centered on a plate umpire who did them no favors. They even have history with Cuzzi, who blatantly blew a call at the plate that cost them a game against the Mets in 2010.

Their issues with him started three batters into the game, when Brandon Belt struck out while trying to check his swing. Bochy came out to argue, perhaps because he felt Cuzzi should have sought help from the third base umpire.

Apparently high pitches were called strikes against several batters. Angel Pagan jawed at the umpire. Gregor Blanco and Vogelsong took high strikes, too. And the perception was clear from the Giants right-hander: When it came to charity calls, there was no reciprocity while Vogelsong stood on the mound.

Vogelsong worked at a deliberate pace, walking two to start the second inning and allowed a run when Michael Taylor lined a single. Brandon Crawford's solo homer, his 12th of the season, tied it in the fourth.

In the fifth, Vogelsong did not get the call on a 1-2 slider to leadoff man Denard Span and appeared to turn back to the mound in disgust. It was unclear whether Cuzzi made a comment or otherwise baited the right-hander, but a moment later, Vogelsong was walking off the mound and toward the plate while pointing at the umpire.

Cuzzi held up a hand, and then ejected Vogelsong — the first of his career. Bochy brayed from the dugout and double-timed it onto the field, precipitating a quick hook for his third ejection of the season.

Josh Osich entered and flashed power stuff while retiring four hitters, including a helmet-slamming Bryce Harper for the second time in the series. But Kontos replaced him with one out in the sixth, and Ramos drove his second pitch over the right field fence.

Even before the ejections, the Giants appeared to be playing with an edge. Pagan, dragging one bad knee, made a full-extension dive to take an extra-base hit away from Ian Desmond in the fourth inning.

Joe Panik committed just his second error of the season — and his first fielding error since Sept. 13, 92 games ago — when Yunel Escobar's one-hop comet ate him up in the first inning. But then Panik deftly started a double play to help Vogelsong escape. And Panik made a diving catch of Desmond's liner up the middle in the sixth.

But their offense barely threatened after Ramos put the Nationals ahead. Jordan Zimmermann, who came within an out of throwing a shutout against the Giants in Game 2 of the NL Division Series last October, held them to three hits while striking out eight in seven innings.

Ramos lined an RBI single off Hunter Strickland in the eighth, giving Nationals closer Drew Storen twice the lead to protect in the ninth.

It made for a most unhappy flight home for the Giants, although they didn't immediately board one. They petitioned the league and received permission to fly this morning instead of after Sunday night's game.

Instead of taking a red-eye flight and getting home until after 6 a.m. Monday, they planned to rest in their hotel as long as possible Sunday night, fly cross-country and pretty much strap it on.

They'll bus straight to AT&T Park and expect to arrive at 1 p.m., then play the New York Mets beginning at 7:15 p.m.

'The players, they discussed it and I checked with a lot of them,' said Bochy, who sent starting pitchers Matt Cain and Chris Heston ahead early on commercial flights. 'They prefer it. The red eye just flattens us, not that we don't look flat now.'