@CrossBones @Madturk
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San Francisco Giants enter the 2017 MLB All-Star week with a record of 34-56, giving them the most losses in franchise history at the break.
They limp into the four-day rest period on a four-game losing streak, 27 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West and 17.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies in the Wild Card chase. Only the Philadelphia Phillies have a worse record in all of baseball.
For San Francisco, it has been a combination of lack of offense and lack of run prevention. The Giants’ 354 runs scored are the third fewest in MLB and their 453 runs allowed and the third most in the NL.
The team will send catcher Buster Posey to start the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday, but the remainder of the offense has been lethargic. Their 73 home runs are 10 fewer than the next closest team in all of baseball and they also rank dead last in slugging percentage (.372) and OPS (.674) as a club.
As for the pitching, the major storyline has been the loss of Madison Bumgarner, who has made just four starts all season before he suffered a Grade 2 shoulder sprain and rib injury during an off-day dirt biking accident. The team has also been without closer Mark Melancon for much of the year, while Johnny Cueto — an All-Star last year — has been slugged to the tune of a 4.51 ERA in the first half.
But those on the hill have been clubbed to the tune of a .276 opponent’s batting average, worst in the National League. The team has amassed just a single shutout all season, the only club in the NL to not have multiple instances during 2017.