Loss drops G-men below .500 mark.

Good news: San Francisco has plenty of time to fix what ails it. Bad news: there's an awful lot to fix.

More fifth-inning struggles for the one-time ace.
(Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle)

One bad inning and a slumbering offense was all it took as the Giants fell to Arizona 3-0 on Tuesday. It was the sixth loss in seven games, and it sent the once 6-2 Giants below the .500 mark for the first time this year. At 7-8, the Giants sit in third place in the NL West.

The game was the antithesis of Monday's 9-7 debacle, and yes, we had to look that word up. Base runners, plentiful just 24 hours earlier, were hard to come by.

Where Jake Peavy was in immediate trouble on Monday, Matt Cain didn't even surrender a hit until the fifth. The Giants didn't fare much better, doing little damage against Arizona's Robbie Ray.

The first noise from either side came courtesy the D-Backs' inaugural hit. Unfortunately for the Giants, one hit led to another and the game spun out of control.

Chris Owings doubled to lead off the inning, moved to third on Ray's sac bunt, then scored when Jean Segura got hit number two. Mike Lamb followed with an RBI triple and scored on a sac fly.

Two more singles chased Cain. No hits through four became a mess as he surrendered safeties to five of the seven men he saw in the inning. 

Mike Broadway, just recalled from Triple A, inherited two runners but whiffed Wellington Castillo to limit the gap to 3-0.

Ray mystified the Giants' bats, allowing scattered runners but experiencing no imminent threats. The lefty relied heavily on his fastball, and the Giants were at a loss to find a way to square it up.

The only chink in the armor appeared with one out in the fifth when Ray clipped Denard Span and Joe Panik singled him to third. The table was set for Buster Posey, but he fanned on a 3-2 pitch, and Hunter Pence grounded out to end the threat.

For all intents and purposes, that was the game. 

Photographic evidence of a baserunner, just to see if
you're playing attention. (Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle)

Ray departed after six and the Giants weren't sorry to see him go. However, they fared no better against a collection of relief arms. 

San Francisco didn't even manage to our a lead off man on until Posey singled in the eighth, and he was quickly wiped out on a double play.

The Giants did get a look at some different faces. In addition to Broadway's appearance, there was the ML debut of Steve Okert, who threw two innings of scoreless ball.

Offensively the Giants managed just six hits, and they wee 0-for-5 with RISP.

So the slide continues. Since taking three of four from LA on the season's first weekend, San Francisco has stumbled and stammered to just two wins in eight tries.

It won't get any easier on Wednesday as well-paid mercenary Zack Greinke pitches for Arizona.The Giants counter with ace Madison Bumgarner, still searching for his regular-season form.

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