Giants bats silent when needed most in Game 4

• The Giants fail to make good on scoring chances again
• Buster Posey is 2-for-14 in the NLCS, 6-for-33 in the postseason
• Hunter Pence has struggled at the plate in the NLCS

ST. LOUIS -- The Giants said they needed Hunter Pence to start hitting — check, at least for the first time up.

They needed Tim Lincecum to keep getting people out — check, for almost half a game, anyway, though we're obliged to note there was a smoke-and-mirrors quality to The Freak wriggling through four innings with just two runs allowed. Chalk it up to some superb defense and the baseball gods who steered line-drives to most of the right places.

Those are the kinds of little gems of optimism that please a manager on a Thursday night in May. This is October.

And the overriding bottom line is that the San Francisco Giants aren't generating enough offense.

It's certainly not anywhere near enough to win a postseason series with anyone, let alone a deep and efficient Cardinals lineup, and especially since Major League Baseball's league-exclusive bracketing wouldn't allow San Francisco to match up with the New York Yankees.

And the offensive inefficiencies we're seeing figure to be woefully short of what could be needed in tonight's desperation Game5 with Barry Zito carrying the torch.

Torched is what Zito has been by the right-handers who populate the middle of the St. Louis batting order.

"I'm going to go out there and be aggressive," Zito said.

The Cardinals hitters have no reason not to do likewise. To reiterate the pertinent numbers:

Nos. 3-6 hitters Matt Holliday, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina and David Freese — all righties — have a combined career .308 average and .569 slugging percentage against Zito. Craig has three homers and a double in 10 at-bats.

Zito doesn't need to be reminded — but he was, of course.

How much does that factor into his game plan, he was asked.

"You look more inside the numbers than just at a stat," Zito said. "You actually look at the at-bat. You get guys on a hot streak or sometimes you throw good pitches and guys hit them. You can't change your game plan too much, though."

There had better be some priceless pieces of intelligence from the video room as Zito studies up, but Lincecum and the Giants bullpen made sure Thursday that most of the Cardinals lineup is on one of those hot streaks Zito spoke of.

If his message between the lines was that there's not much you can do with a team on a roll — ouch.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy doesn't have such a luxury with his lineup and is in no position to be patient.

He shuffled the batting order Thursday, taking Pence out from behind best hitter Buster Posey and moving Posey from fourth to third, ahead of Pablo Sandoval.

It's crucial to have Posey leading the offense and, with Pence at .161 for the postseason entering Thursday, there hasn't been much incentive for the opposition to challenge Posey.

"It's not a big adjustment," Bochy said. "It's a little tweak I thought was necessary."

Then maybe something more drastic is in order, though Bochy insists he wants to stay with the regulars who got the team this far.

But the revised 3-4-5 of Posey, Sandoval and Hector Sanchez (catching for the first time this series with Posey replacing Brandon Belt at first) was hitless until Sandoval's consolation homer in the ninth. Sanchez struck out three times and grounded out in the ninth. Posey is 2-for-14 in the NLCS, 6-for-33 in the postseason.

"They're being careful with him (Posey)," Bochy said. "We know it and he knows it. He's a special talent."

Other than Pence's long second-inning homer, San Francisco had just three hits in starter Adam Wainwright's seven innings.

"The players will determine what happens," Bochy said. "We tweaked it a little bit tonight, didn't help a lot."

Other than Pence's long second-inning homer, San Francisco had just three hits in Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright's seven innings.

Now, they're facing a Cardinals team in clinching position. St. Louis is 5-1 with the opportunity to end a series over this postseason and last.