Friendly family rivalry

Brandon Crawford finally made a dent against his brother-in-law.

Crawford had two hits Monday night off Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole, who’s married to Crawford’s sister Amy. That boosted Crawford’s career numbers to 4-for-18 (.222) in this game-within-the-game.

“I definitely have a little history against him now,” Crawford said Tuesday. “The competition is maybe a little bit stronger, I guess, because he’s my brother-in-law.”

He figured Amy enjoyed Monday night’s game — Cole got the win, Crawford got those two hits — more than the one June 30 in Pittsburgh. Cole took the loss that night, and Crawford went 0-for-6.

Widen the scope, and Crawford is showing signs of emerging from his long funk. He added two more hits Tuesday night.

“I’m getting there,” he said. “I haven’t felt bad all year, but then I’ll go up to the plate and make soft contact or swing through something. It’s been a tough year, kind of a weird year.”

Ejection aftermath: Manager Bruce Bochy offered no regrets for his second-inning ejection Monday night — and he acknowledged his frustration stretched beyond discontent with Chris Conroy’s strike zone.

Put another way: This dreadful season spilled into the open, absolutely.

“You’re going to have nights like that when you don’t agree with the strike zone,” Bochy said. “Chris does a good job back there. It’s just frustration with how things are going here, too. You don’t get a call, and then that same at-bat the ball leaves the park for a three-run homer.

“It’s just mounting up. Bottom line, we have to play better, we have to pitch better, we have to swing the bats better. The umpire had nothing to do with what happened last night.”

Bochy was asked who would manage if he and bench coach Ron Wotus both were ejected. The reply: Duane Kuiper, mostly because the broadcaster walked past him at that precise moment.