By Jeremy Harness

Two weeks ago, the Giants were the best team in baseball. Now, they can’t seem to get out of their own way.

Wednesday afternoon, not even Tim Hudson could get the Giants back on the right track.

Last week, Hudson was able to lead the Giants in avoiding a four-game sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals. They have not won a game since that Thursday, and the Chicago White Sox pounded on him to beat them, 7-6, at US Cellular Field.

The hits came early and often against the right-hander, who has been known as the team’s stopper thus far. Hudson lasted only 4 2/3 innings and gave up seven runs on 12 hits, walking one batter and not recording a single strikeout.

The White Sox scored two runs in the very first inning, two more in the fourth and an additional three in the fifth to build a 7-2 lead.

The Giants, to their credit, built a comeback in the late innings. In the seventh, Buster Posey’s sac fly brought in a run.

The next inning, Gregor Blanco doubled in a run to further cut into the lead, and Hunter Pence immediately followed that by bringing in another one with a fielder’s choice.

The Giants have now lost five straight games as well as eight of their last nine contests. Besides all of that, they entered Wednesday’s game tied with Oakland for the best record in the major leagues.

There will likely be brighter days in the not-too-distant future. Their next game is on Friday, when they head to Arizona to start a three-game series with the Diamondbacks, who are 30-44 and stand 14 games behind them in the National League West.