"The Diamondbacks had to have left AT&T Park with a feeling of offensive inadequacy, having scored a total of five runs while being swept by the San Francisco Giants in three games.

But it's not as if it's an unfamiliar feeling. After falling 3-2 to Matt Cain and the Giants on Thursday afternoon, the Diamondbacks are 4-17 since the start of 2009 in this ballpark, a stretch in which they have hit just .208 and averaged just over three runs per game.

"Good pitching, a huge ballpark, low-scoring games - you know what you're getting into here," Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly Johnson said.

But that didn't make the series - or, for that matter, the road trip that began in San Diego last weekend - any easier to swallow, not after losing for the fifth time in the past six games, all the losses coming by a margin of one run.

"Definitely frustrating," right-hander Daniel Hudson said. "I keep telling myself that things are going to start swinging our way sooner or later. A couple of tough losses and it's kind of killing us right now."

After Wednesday's loss, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson's temperature was boiling, but he seemed ready to regroup after Thursday's loss.

"Those guys are the world champions, and they showed it this series," Gibson said. "I know it's discouraging, but we've got to just pick ourselves up. We have nothing to hang our heads about. Probably pressing a little bit. We've got to find a way to relax and go back and play."

The Diamondbacks offense continued to sag. They racked up 11 hits on Thursday, but they haven't approached their early-season levels in terms of run production in weeks. They averaged nearly six runs per game in the first 11 games but have seen that drop to fewer than four runs in the ensuing 25 games."