San Francisco Giants Must Improve in Key Area to Stay Alive in Wild Card Race

The San Fransisco Giants are one of many who are still chasing their 50th win on the season as the All-Star break approaches.

They’re a respectable 48-42 entering Sunday's action, but have fallen eight games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

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The Dodgers are 56-34 and the way they are performing nobody is beating them out for the division title. However, there are three wild card spots up for grabs in the NL and there are quite a few teams in contention. 

Right now those spots belong to the New York Mets, the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres.

The Giants are in a tie for the final Wild Card spot with San Diego, along with the St. Louis Cardinals. There is plenty of runway for the Giants to claim one of those spots by October.

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At first glance the main issue that the Giants are facing is their performance on the road, which is 23-25 on the season. 

The Mets hold the top wild card spot and have one of the worst away records in the Majors, but they have become nearly unbeatable at home. The only team with a better home record is the Dodgers. 

In June they went 5-6 in their away games with a single series win (out of three total) against the Colorado Rockies. 

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The Giants have recorded the fourth highest amount of strikeouts on the season at opposing stadiums with 442. When at home? They have the fourth fewest.

The only major hitting statistic in which the Giants sit in the Top 10 in at away stadiums is triples where they are tied for fourth with the Detroit Tigers.

Defensively their pitching staff is keeping them in the wild card chase. Their ERA is third best in the league when off their home mound with a 3.76. They have recorded the most strikeouts as the only team to have more than 400. The only pitching staff who’s holding batters to an average lower than them is the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

San Francisco started the month by taking two out of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks. They can take two out of three from the Athletics on Sunday.

The Giants will have a brutal six-game stretch at home before the All-Star break, hosting the Philadelphia Phillies and then the Dodgers.

For more Giants news, head over to Giants On SI.