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SAN FRANCISCO >> The injuries mount. So do the defeats. And the Giants offense appears to have mostly vanished.
For the second night in a row, the Giants went down with barely a whimper, losing to the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Tuesday before an announced crowd of 35,285 at AT&T Park. It was the 10th loss in a row for the Giants (68-78), marking the longest such streak since 1996. They have never lost 11 in a row in San Francisco.
In addition to another punchless offensive outing — the Giants had six hits and scored their only run in the ninth — manager Bruce Bochy announced before the game that Brandon Belt would possibly need right knee surgery. He was scratched from Tuesday night’s game against Atlanta right-hander Mike Foltynewicz.
“That’s what they’re talking about,” Bochy said during his pre-game meeting with the media in the Giants’ dugout. “He has some meniscus issues.”
Belt will finish out the final 16 games, even if it means only playing part time.
Austin Slater played first in place of Belt against Atlanta. He was 0 for 4 with an error.
Bochy wants Belt to play out the season for a couple of reasons. The manager wants the Giants to finish as strong as possible. Also, he wants Belt in the lineup to provide leadership for the young players on the expanded September roster.
Belt is in a 6-for-40 (.150) slump that has dropped his average to .257, and he hasn’t homered since July 21. He pinch hit Tuesday night and struck out looking.
Also bothered by a sore knee is shortstop Brandon Crawford. He drove in the Giants’ only run against Foltynewicz. Evan Longoria singled with two outs and went to second on defensive indifference, allowing Crawford to knock home his team-leading 51st run.
Crawford’s sore knee — his left — isn’t as serious as Belt’s, and Bochy sounded confident the Gold Glove shortstop will not need surgery.
“It’s important these guys get out there and help lead, especially in Belt’s case with Ryder Jones going down,” Bochy said.
Jones will have surgery today to repair his left patella tendon, which he injured last weekend in Milwaukee. He is expected to be ready for spring training.
The mounting injuries led to a bit of a different lineup against the Braves. Crawford batted fourth, albeit for the 28th time this season. Rookie Chris Shaw was in left. Aramis Garcia was the catcher. Alen Hanson played second.
“I thought about Joe Panik at first base today,” Bochy said. Asked if he was kidding, the manager answered, “No.”
Desperate times call for desperate measures, although Tuesday night’s defeat was more understandable than some of the previous nine.
Foltynewicz (11-9) was nasty. He walked one, struck out seven and was dealing 98 and 99 mph fastballs into the ninth.
“He’s got good stuff,” Bochy said of Foltynewicz. “He’s throwing 98, 99. But you got to find a way.”
Bochy called a short meeting before the game to encourage his players to keep their heads up and remind them to play hard in these final 16 games.
“About five minutes,” Giants starting pitcher Andrew Suarez answered when he was asked how long the meeting lasted. “He just wanted to let us know to finish strong.”
Suarez (6-11) was adequate, allowing six hits and three runs in six innings. He gave up a run in the fourth, then Atlanta third baseman Charlie Culberson drilled a two-run homer in the fifth to make it 3-0.
Crawford and Longoria each had two hits for the Giants. Longoria’s first-inning double was the Giants’ only extra base hit.
Leadoff hitter Gregor Blanco, who was 0 for 4, dismissed Tuesday night’s defeat as just a great pitching effort by the opponent. But he said the team can’t throw in the towel.
“I think I talk for all the guys,” Blanco said. “We have won championships. We have a group of guys who are winners. We’ve got to come in here and pass our legacy to the young guys.”
• The Giants last lost 11 in a row in 1951 when they were in New York. They ended up winning the pennant that year when Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer — “The shot heard around the world” — in the bottom of the ninth in the third game of a three-game playoff against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
