"Matt Cain didn't say a word, but his silence spoke volumes.

Cain is as baffled as anyone by his continued struggles against the rival Dodgers, who beat the Giants 4-2 Tuesday at AT&T Park. Knocked out after five innings, Cain just stared into space when asked about his 0-8 record in 14 career starts against Los Angeles.

Considering what the right-hander has accomplished in his six big league seasons, the record is unexplainable. But then, so is much of what the Giants have done on this homestand.

With their All-Star pitchers uncharacteristically scuffling and a lineup full of plodders without much pop, the Giants don't have much margin for error.

They need to do the little things to win, and Tuesday, they once again piled up the mistakes.

There was an inning-ending double play, a fielding mistake and a rally-killing baserunning blunder.

And that was just by Pablo Sandoval.

The rest of the Giants weren't much better. Throw in seven runners left on base and one location mistake by Cain (6-7), and the Giants had little chance of stopping their slide.

Losers of six of their past seven, the Giants dropped to 1-4 on the six-game homestand.

"We've just got to tighten things up," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's the little things that we've got to do better at.""