Pablo Sandoval and the San Francisco Giants' Pitchers Can't Do It Solo

The San Francisco Giants 2-1 loss to the Florida Marlins on Friday was a microcosm of the Giants season thus far. Great pitching, little offense, and a couple of bad breaks.

Pablo Sandoval's solo home run in the the first inning provided the Giants' only run. The solo shot continued the streak of nobody-on blasts to a major league record of 20. The man affectionately known as "Panda" has been the Giants' only consistent offensive presence as of late. Despite missing six weeks early in the season with a broken hand, Sandoval leads the Giants with 14 home runs and a nifty .314 average.

The Giants had hoped the addition of Carlos Beltran would create a nice one-two punch in the middle of the order with Sandoval. Both are switch-hitters. However, Beltran has been out of the line-up since August 7th with a strained wrist.  

With the pathetic offensive showings of late, the Giants have fallen two games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West.

The Giants pitching, their greatest strength, has been unable to keep the Giants out of their recent funk as the Giants have lost six of their last eight games. The Giants own the league's second lowest team ERA and WHIP at 3.19 and 1.22 respectively.

In the 2-1 loss Friday, Matt Cain produced a quality start, going six innings and only giving up two earned runs. Cain, along with Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong, are in the Top-ten in ERA in the NL. They have been great at getting the ball to (arguably) the league's best bullpen and putting the team in a position to win.

However, the offense just hasn't been up to the task. In Friday's game a tough break cost the Giants a chance of putting the winning run in scoring position. Sandoval singled to lead off the 9th inning. Aubrey Huff, who popped out with the bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, flied out to right and failed to advance Sandoval into scoring position. Next up, Cody Ross smashed a ball into center field only to see Dewayne Wise make a stupefying catch falling down near the warning track. Orlando Cabrera went down swinging feebly to end the game.

Such has been the way of the defending World Champion Giants this season. While recent addition IF Jeff Keppinger has been productive, the Giants will need more from players like Ross and Huff. If Beltran is able to return on form, the Giants might have just enough to make another playoff run behind Pablo and the pitchers.