For the first time since the post-Bonds era, the San Francisco Giants are in reach of the post-season. To anyone who follows the team, this season has come as a bit of a surprise compared to where they finished last year.

The Giants offense currently hovers around the bottom of the barrel for the league -- rounding out in the bottom eight teams for hits, home runs, batting average and RBIs as a team. Plain and simple, the Giants need to start getting hits -- a lot of them -- to seriously be in the race for the post-season.

You might ask how a team that has performed so poorly in offensive production can be so close to clinching a spot in the playoffs.

Ladies and gentleman, introducing: Mr. Tim Lincecum, Mr. Matt Cain, Mr. Barry Zito and Mr. Brad Penny. Together they are statistically the best pitching staff in the Major League. Beyond the best, "sensational" would better describe their starting rotation.

This rotation held the NL's best hitting club, Philadelphia, to just scoring 1.5 runs per game in their recent series on Sept. 1-3. You would think a team that can hold an offensive powerhouse to those numbers would be cruising to the post-season with plenty of confidence. But the Giants lost two out of three in that series.

It gets worse. Consider their stats on runners in scoring position. On Sept. 6 in Milwaukee, the Giants lost the game 2-1 in 12 innings after producing ten hits. With those numbers you would expect a team in the middle of a playoff race to post at least four to five runs. They only scored one run. As of the start of the month, the Giants are hitting .242 with runners in scoring position. It's not just a matter of getting men on base -- it's the struggle of driving them in that is the real issue.

With a team that is lacking the power numbers that Barry Bonds posted just a few seasons ago, fans are voicing their frustrations with all of the potential, but lack of execution.

Giants fan Alex Williamson felt that General Manager Brian Sabean made some poor moves to bring in Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez. "Garko was a terrible decision -- he's not a home run hitter like we thought and Sanchez has been hurt since he joined the club," Williamson said. "If it worked out, we would have been leading the division and in line to the playoffs."

10-year season ticket holder and lifelong Giants fan, Travis Marsh, feels very cynical about the Giants lineup. "Any team that has over 600 pounds in the [numbers] 3 and 4 slots will definitely have trouble hitting," Marsh said.

As excitement draws back around the China Basin ballpark again, you can't help but mention the importance of fundamentals, especially six months into the season. The Giants need hits like peanut butter needs jelly. If the team wants to compete with this very tough division, pitching alone will not get the job done.