Can anyone explain what the heck is happening?

It just seems they can't do anything right.

San Francisco remained winless since the break, dropping a 4-0 decision in Boston on Tuesday that, combined with Los Angeles's 8-4 victory victory narrowed their lead in the NL West from a staggering eighth games just a few breaths ago to a suddenly-frightening 4 1/2. Now a 4 1/2-game lead in late July is a wonderful thing, but ya gotta admit that eight is better.

They can't watch either. (AP Photo)

The Giants have fallen off the proverbial cliff, and they keep finding ever-imaginitive ways to lose ball games. This time the G-Men outhit Boston 5-4 but suffered the one-sided setback because five singles and a pair of walks get trumped by a measly six baserunners when four of those guys score. Long balls do that. 

Boston hit a pair of them, Brock Holt's solo shot in the third and a three-run bomb by David Ortiz (retire already!) in the fourth were the extent of the the Boston offense, and it was enough to send Jake Peavy to his eighth loss of the season.

We'll get to Peavy in a moment. God knows we love bashing him (you can't flog Santiago Casilla every night, or can you?) but Peavy and the ever-imploding bullpen aren't the only problem. The rotation isn't getting it done. Since the break the starting staff has posted a 6.86 ERA. Worse, they've given up eight home runs in just 22 innings. 

The only reason that hasn't set off air raid sirens (and it really should have) is that until Big Papi's 442-foot moon shot, all of the homers had been of the solo variety. Still, that means the rotation has an ERA of 4.09 just counting the balls that left the yard -- and those haven't been the only scores allowed. 

Which brings us back to Peavy. He wasn't awful, but he wasn't sharp. As much as it's possible for a pitcher to be chicken-or-feathers, he was on Tuesday. To be successful he's gotta live on the edges. Instead, the bulk of his pitches were either set up on a tee or easy takes. If the BoSox didn't chase, they squared him up. In addition to the four hits, there were a lot of loud outs.

Peavy seethes as Big Papi trots. Explanation unknown. (Getty Images)

In a perverse way, Peavy probably should be commended for lasting six innings. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter, and he wasn't gonna win anyway; not the way this team is hitting. Since returning from siesta (or did they?) the Giants have amassed 12 runs in four games, or three per contest. Now if your pitching is exceptional, three runs could grab you some wins; see 2010. But the pitching isn't exceptional, and 11 of those runs scored came in two games. The other 18 innings have seen just one Giant reach the plate, and he looked like he'd gotten lost on the way back from the restroom.

Sadly, the table was set for the Giants on Tuesday. Denard Span and Angel Pagan, the top two bats in the order, each had two hits. Jarrett Parker, DHing out of the six hole, got the other. The 3-4-5 of Brandon Belt, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford went a combined 0-for-11 with a walk (to Posey) and five strikeouts against Rick Porcello and Company.

The most curious of these is Belt, who is hitless since the break. In 17 plate appearances he's walked just once and struck out eight times -- including a forgettable four-K night last Friday in San Diego. And here's the killer: he's left 11 men on base. That in the three hole gets you a four-game losing streak unless someone else picks up the slack. It ain't happening.

So at 57-37, the Giants still have a cushion but also glaring problems. Hunter Pence's rehab is going slower than expected and Joe Panik is slowly working his way back. Corey Gearring and Matt Duffy are still in Arizona trying to get healthy. It doesn't appear the cavalry is coming over the hill any time soon. These guys are gonna have to right the ship themselves.

The effort starts on Wednesday with the return of Matt Cain (1-5, 5.34 ERA) matching up with old foe Drew Pomeranz (8-7, 2.47) making his Red Sox debut. Did we say the Giants aren't hitting? We all know the story with Cain and run support; he's gotta be wondering about the timing.

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