SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Zito achieved another moral victory Monday night. The actual one continues to elude him.

Zito threw five shutout innings against the Houston Astros before losing a three-run lead in the sixth. But he didn't collapse under his own weight this time. He was simply beaten by the hottest hitter in the major leagues.

Lance Berkman hit a tying, two-run home run in the sixth inning to deprive Zito of his first victory of the season. Instead, the left-hander took a no-decision as the Giants lost 7-3 at AT&T Park.

"I don't know if I'm building toward a win," Zito said. "That's out of my control. But I'm building toward being more aggressive and having better command."

Zito hung a 3-1 changeup that Berkman swatted to the deepest part of left field, and the Astros pushed ahead against the Giants bullpen. Hunter Pence's sacrifice fly off Vinnie Chulk scored Jose Cruz Jr. in the seventh, and Keiichi Yabu's pickoff throw to an invisible first baseman resulted in two more runs in the eighth.

Zito remained 0-7 but avoided becoming the first pitcher in 20 years to lose his first eight starts. That distinction continues to belong to Mike Boddicker, who toiled for a Baltimore Orioles team that epically dropped its first 21 games of the season.

It might be easier to hide an 0-8 pitcher amid a systemwide collapse. But it's been tougher for Zito, a $126 million hood ornament on a Giants team looking for a new direction without Barry Bonds.

At least

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there's no shame in getting beaten by Berkman. The Astros' slugging first baseman has a .605 average over an 11-game hitting streak, including five homers. He finished a triple short of the cycle Monday. Perhaps it's better if nobody tells Zito that Berkman almost didn't play because of a mildly strained groin.

Zito walked off the mound to cheers after each of his first five scoreless innings. He threw more sinking, two-seam fastballs and located it well with runners on base. In the fourth inning, he even got Berkman to swing through an up-and-in fastball as catcher Bengie Molina threw out Miguel Tejada on a busted hit-and-run. Zito painted the next pitch on the inside corner to strike out Berkman.

"It had some good movement," Zito said. "Definitely, it's coming."

Manager Bruce Bochy said the start probably ranked as Zito's best of the season.

"He's got a good feel for what he's doing now," Bochy said. "He's confident. He's a standup guy, and he wants the ball. He's not looking at the record. He's out there trying to win, and that's what you want."

Though it might be lost amid the boos, it was the third time Zito met the minimum standards of a quality start: at least six innings, no more than three earned runs.

But the changeup remained a trouble pitch, especially to Berkman in the sixth.

"Not a bad selection," Zito said. "It was on the black, away. It was just up. Get it down and it's probably a fly ball to center field."

The Giants had scored just nine runs for Zito over his seven starts, but they put together a two-run third inning against Houston ace Roy Oswalt. John Bowker hit a down-and-in breaking ball into the right-field arcade for a solo homer in the fourth.

But Oswalt (4-3) yielded no more through eight innings, and the Giants completed their collapse after Merkin Valdez loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. Cruz hit a run-scoring single to chase Valdez, Yabu entered and inexplicably threw to first base while Bowker stood well off the bag. The Astros raced around the bases, second baseman Eugenio Velez threw wildly to the backstop for another error, and the crowd of 30,165 headed for the exits.

While Zito didn't fall to 0-8, the Giants remained winless in his starts.

"It's not about me getting wins. It's about the team getting wins," Zito said. "Unfortunately, it didn't happen tonight."

Contact Andrew Baggarly at abaggarly@mercurynews.com.