Miguel Tejada was out of the lineup for the first time this season Thursday, and manager Cecil Cooper admits being pleased he doesn't have to play any veteran just for the sake of trying to help the player accomplish a personal goal.

Although Cooper preferred to give Tejada the complete day off, he did wind up employing him in the late innings. But he didn't feel obligated to use Tejada just for the sake of using him.

"If he had ... an 800-game streak or something rolling, well, you know, maybe we'd try to sneak him so he could continue to get that," Cooper said. "But I don't think we have one of those anymore."

Tejada entered as a pinch hitter in the ninth and stayed at short in the bottom of the inning.

Asked if he was glad not to be saddled with a situation in which a veteran was trying to stay in the lineup to keep a streak going, Cooper didn't hesitate.

"Yeah, that's kind of a relief," he said. "I know like (Phil Garner) last year, I know he had to deal with (it). Those were some tough issues he had to deal with: (a) Hall of Fame player (Craig Biggio) trying to get 3,000 (hits) and all this stuff, a lot of sacrifices that he had to make to keep him playing and all that stuff.

"The other guy (Chris Burke) suffered a little bit sitting and not playing and all that stuff. That's not an easy thing to do. That's a headache, and it's something that you really don't need."

ASTROS 8, GIANTS 7: The Astros won because Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Darin Erstad hit a combined three home runs for a total of five runs in the final two innings, helping the Astros pull off their 13th come-from-behind victory. They trailed 6-0 at one point. Berkman's ninth-inning shot into San Francisco Bay broke a 7-7 tie.

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