San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain throws to the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/George Nikitin)

By Jeremy Harness

SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants just can’t seem to get out of their own way these days, and when facing a decent team that does not often beat itself, the result is usually a decisive defeat.

That’s exactly what happened Thursday night at AT&T Park, as the St. Louis Cardinals came into town and wrestled the first of a four-game series from the Giants, 5-2.

One can point to a number of aspects that went into the opposite direction of what the Giants needed them to go, such as a lack of productivity at the plate to support starter Matt Cain’s nice outing in place of scheduled starter Madison Bumgarner, who was sick and could not pitch Thursday.

The Giants could not get much of anything going off Cardinals starter Michael Wacha, who went six innings and surrendered only a single run on four hits, walking two and striking out two more.

The one bright spot was Cain, who responded by going five innings and gave up only a pair of runs on seven hits, striking out two and not walking anyone.

“I’ll take that any time,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Matty gave us everything we needed, but unfortunately, we’re not swinging the bats very well right now.

“He threw the ball great.”

Those two runs, however, came on one swing of the bat in the second inning. Despite giving up a leadoff hit, Cain got through the first inning unscathed, but fate was not as kind to him in the second. That’s because after giving up a single, right fielder Randal Grichuk took Cain deep into the stands in left-center to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

The Giants got one of those runs back in the fifth inning, thanks to some nice hustle from none other than Hunter Pence. The veteran right fielder tagged up from second to third on a middle-length flyout to right, and then bolted home on a fly ball from pinch hitter Carlos Moncrief.

However, the Cardinals widened the lead again in the seventh when Tommy Pham hit one right back up the middle to bring in Greg Garcia. The Giants looked poised to narrow the gap slightly, particularly when Ryder Jones came through with a two-out triple, and the next batter, Moncrief, appeared to have an infield single in hand.

However, shortstop Paul DeJong snatched the opportunity away by bringing out his inner Derek Jeter, ranging deep in the hole near third base and got just enough on the throw to nab Moncrief and end the inning.

Mark Melancon took the ball in the eighth and immediately got into trouble, loading the bases with only one out. He then walked in a run and then hit Matt Carpenter to bring in another one, handing St. Louis a 5-1 advantage before Bochy decided to yank him.

The Giants made a bit of a rally in the bottom of the ninth, when the Giants ran into a bit of controversy.

Brandon Crawford appeared to have hit a two-run homer just past the wall in right field, right at the foul. However, upon review, umpiring crew chief Mike Everitt determined that a fan had interfered as he caught the ball, forcing Crawford to go back to second while the run was still allowed to score.

However, many in the ballpark shared a different vantage point, which indicated that the ball would have landed just beyond the brick portion of the wall, resulting in a home run. Furthermore, it was in almost the exact same area that J.T. Snow’s homer in Game 2 of the 2000 National League Division Series landed.

“I’m shocked that he overturned it,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Really, it wasn’t even close (to not being a home run), so that why I think we’re all stunned he overturned it.

“You know the ground rules, that if it’s on the green (portion beyond the wall), it’s a home run.”

As it stood, Crawford would be left stranded at second, as Seung Hwan Oh came in and shut the door on the Giants.