SAN DIEGO — The leadoff spot has been such a cooler for the Giants, the local casinos might invite their No.1 hitters to play blackjack for free.

Emmanuel Burriss (.148), Fred Lewis (.197) and Randy Winn (.236) each got the chills upon being moved to the top spot. So Giants Manager Bruce Bochy tried a new strategy Wednesday night. He led off with permanently slumping Aaron Rowand, hoping to fight ice with ice.
Rowand rubbed two Popsicle sticks together and heated up for three hits, but the Giants managed just three more in a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.
After consecutive 2-1 losses here, the Giants are back under .500 and winless in five games this season at Petco Park. And they’ve been beaten by the likes of Shawn Hill and Chad Gaudin, two pitchers who were released by other clubs at the end of spring training.
What’s worse, the Giants are 1-for-22 with runners in scoring position over the two games — and their lone clutch hit didn’t leave the infield.
It came in the second inning when Emmanuel Burriss beat a throw from Padres second baseman David Eckstein, allowing Randy Winn to cross the plate. That was the Giants’ only run in six innings against Gaudin, the former A’s right-hander who was cut loose by the Chicago Cubs a day before their season opener.
“I don’t have much to say,” said Bochy, who was ejected in the eighth. “Very similar to (Tuesday) night. We’re just missing that hit.”
Rowand had a different perspective this time, but it was just as frustrating. Instead of stranding runners, he was the strandee. Yet he didn’t think the time is right to call a team meeting.
“It’s not for a lack of effort and whatnot,” Rowand said. “But obviously, if things continue, sure. Right now, if you’re going to call a meeting, you say ’Keep your heads up and keep pushing.”’
There are sure to be meetings among the front office and coaching staff, however. It’s hard to believe that personnel changes aren’t imminent, especially with Jesus Guzman’s potent bat at Triple-A Fresno.
Asked about personnel changes, Bochy said, “I can’t talk about that now.”
Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez was coming off three consecutive poor outings. The results were acceptable this time, as he held the Padres to two hits in six innings. He retired the last nine hitters he faced.
But Sanchez was hurt by an innocuous two-out walk to Nick Hundley in the second inning. No.8 hitter Chris Burke followed with a tying double, and Kevin Kouzmanoff’s tiebreaking solo shot in the fourth proved to be the difference maker.
The Giants are winless in Sanchez’s last five starts.
Until Wednesday, they hadn’t lost in 15 games when scoring first. It was the longest streak by a major league club to start a season since the 1992 Mets, who won 18 consecutive when scoring first.
The Giants were poised to tie in the sixth after Winn hit a leadoff double and advanced on Lewis’ ground out. Travis Ishikawa worked the count full but couldn’t handle a down-and-in slider from Gaudin, hitting a weak liner to first base.
Credit the Padres for some solid defense, though. Eckstein made a diving stop in the seventh inning to take a potential tying single away from Pablo Sandoval.
The Giants’ offensive problems are far from localized to the No.1 spot, but their leadoff hitters entered Wednesday ranked last among major league clubs in average (.208), runs (14) and total bases (43). Their .285 on-base percentage was better than only the White Sox (.282) and Phillies (.261) — coincidentally, Rowand’s two former teams.
Bochy said he would give Rowand a look as the leadoff man “for at least a couple games. He hadn’t started there since May 30, 2007.
“We’re not looking for him to change,” Bochy said. “It’s really to shake things up a little bit here.”