MILWAUKEE -- Pitching on three days rest, Mike Fiers put the Milwaukee Brewers in position to avoid a sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.
However, Milwaukee's offensive struggles continued in a 3-1 loss Wednesday afternoon at Miller Park. The Brewers have now lost five straight and seven of their last eight to fall to a major-league worst 16-32.
"We're all disappointed because we know what kind of team we are," Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez said. "We know we have the talent to compete and be better than we are. It is not frustrating. It is more disappointing because we can play better than this. It is not one guy. It is in general. It is kind of like bad luck.
"Sometimes we pitch and don't hit. Sometimes we hit and we don't pitch. Sometimes we don't do nothing -- we don't pitch, hit and we make a lot of errors. How do you win games like that?"
Since scoring 11 runs last Friday in an 11-0 win over the Atlanta Braves, the Brewers have mustered just 11 runs during a five-game losing streak.
Milwaukee wasted a one-out triple from Khris Davis in the first, as Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong struck out Ryan Braun and Adam Lind to end the inning.
Davis led off the fourth with a triple but was eventually thrown out at the plate on the contact play. After Braun flew out to shallow right for the first out, Lind hit a ground ball right at first baseman Brandon Belt. Although he was running on contact, Davis was an easy out at the plate.
The Brewers did score their lone run of the game later in the inning on consecutive two-out hits by Aramis Ramirez and Elian Herrera.
"We've had a slow week offensively, for sure," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "We've got to get some facets clicking together to win games. We have to create more opportunities, more opportunities with men in scoring position, men on base. Just pressure innings for the other team. Just not enough of those right now."
Just two Brewers reached base after Herrera's RBI single in the fourth. Gomez was stranded after singling with two outs in the fifth, while Lind's one-out single in the sixth was erased when Aramis Ramirez hit into a double play.
Vogelsong allowed just one run over six innings, while Giants relievers Hunter Strickland, Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla set the Brewers down in order over the final three innings of the game.
"You see the lineup," Gomez said. "From one to eight, we're all hitting below .270. How do you expect to win games like that? When we win a lot of games, we hit with guys in scoring position. Lately we don't do that. We're not playing like we are supposed to."
When the offense has broken through, the pitching has struggled. Milwaukee hasn't had a starting pitcher pitch six or more innings in six consecutive games.
The Brewers entered Wednesday tied for the second-worst team ERA at 4.60 and with the fourth-worst starting pitching ERA at 4.85.
In addition to having one of the worst team ERAs in baseball, Milwaukee came in to the series finale against the Giants last in the majors in batting average at .226 and 23rd in runs scored with 277.
"I don't think we've played sloppy, I just think we've gone into this funk hitting, and we haven't matched up the hitting and pitching performance," Counsell said. "It's frustrating. They're frustrated. I'm frustrated. You have to earn these wins, though. They're not going to be given to you against a very, very good team."
While the Brewers continue to hold out hope for a turnaround, the odds of such a thing happening become thinner with each loss. As the calendar turns to June next week, Milwaukee is on pace to win just 54 games.
"When your best players don't do their job like they are supposed to, it is impossible to win games," Gomez said. "We all come here positive and play hard. It is not like we aren't trying. We're trying. Friday is another game, another series. We have to start from there and not think about the past. I know that's hard, especially myself. I hate losing. You get to the point in your career where the only thing that's important to you is winning.
"Things can change. We still have more than 100 games to play. You see right now, we're 10, 20 games under .500. If we get on a streak and win 10 games, we are right in business. We can't give up."
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