Offense dropped a tick in the last week, despite 34 runs in two games by the Reds and Rockies Sunday night. The majors scored 8.12 runs per game last week and now stand at 8.20 runs per game for the season (you need to go out three decimal places to show the difference). That stayed in line with 2013, which also dropped a tick but again rounded to 8.40 runs per game.
The difference between offense before and after the All-Star break is stunning. Games were producing 8.28 runs per game prior to the All-Star game, 7.93 runs per game after, a drop of 0.35 runs per game. Home runs are down slightly, 1.77 per game to 1.66 per game. Total hits are down more, 17.23 to 17.06 per games, and walks are way down, 5.94 per game to 5.63 per game. Fewer base runners mean fewer opportunities to score.
MLB better juice the ball again because games are getting way too boring. Especially seeing as game length does not seem affected by the lower run scoring games. Its one thing to watch a 4 hr slug fest, but a 4 hr pitchers duel, especially from the stands must be especially brutal. At least on TV you can see the Pitcher-batter duel, not so in most seats around the stadium. No wonder fans are leaving games earlier (per Werner), the boredom factor is way too much for most to stand.