San Francisco Giants

A home run hit by Brandon Crawford to the right field bleachers was overturned by replay review because…well…we don’t really know.Neither does Bruce Bochy, neither does anyone in the Giants clubhouse, and especially neither does Crawford himself.

Whether it’s Bumgarner in his prime, Cain far past his, or anyone in-between that is taking the mound, a pattern has developed for the 2017 Giants: they don’t score enough runs and they don’t win many games. That continued on Thursday, with the Giants losing 5-2 in the first of a four-game series versus the St. Louis Cardinals.

With Johnny Cueto returning to action on Friday, Giants manager Bruce Bochy announced that the team will be using a six-man rotation. Less than 24 hours later, that plan has already hit its first bump in the road.

The Giants’ lone 2017 All-Star is returning to the starting lineup in the team’s series opener versus the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night at AT&T Park.

Caleb Gindl has spent parts of ten seasons bouncing around in the Minor Leagues as an outfielder. On Monday night, however, it was on the mound where Gindl caught the attention of those watching him.

Muscle-bound sluggers are winning games by studying launch angles, while heat-throwing pitchers are providing the power. The Giants, led by Brandon Belt’s 18 home runs, are not keeping up. This is where Stanton comes in.

Mark Melancon sparked a tad bit of controversy when he debuted his name of choice — Stretch — in what was meant to be a joke in reference to a news story that broke out earlier in the year, saying that Melancon had caused some stir in the clubhouse when he didn’t stretch with the rest of the relievers before each game.

Though a Giants pitching staff that ranks 17th in the Major Leagues in earned run average hasn’t aided the franchise’s cause this season, San Francisco’s lineup was unable to keep the club afloat during the first half of the season.

Mike Krukow expressed some serious emotion when offering his take on Thursday’s brawl between the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers.

Opt in or opt out? Giants CEO Larry Baer doesn’t know, but he hopes Cueto is back in the orange and black next season.