After taking care of business in Anaheim and watching the Padres sweep the Dodgers for the first time since April 15-17, 2013, the Giants entered Thursday with a season-high four-game lead for first place in the National League West.

The 48-26 Giants will now return home and prepare to host the A’s in the annual Bay Bridge Series, which will mark the return of full capacity crowds at Oracle Park.

Here are three thoughts before the Giants return to action on Friday:

1. Tauchman’s odd day
Mike Tauchman was one pitch away from infamy in the Giants’ 9-3 win over the Angels on Wednesday afternoon at Angel Stadium. After going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts, Tauchman was on the verge of tying the Major League record with a six-strikeout game, which had been done only eight times, most recently by the Brewers’ Geoff Jenkins in 2004. Instead, Tauchman launched a 2-2 sinker from Junior Guerra out into the right-field seats for a three-run shot that capped the Giants’ seven-run 13th inning.

What was Tauchman’s approach heading into that sixth at-bat?

“Please, God, put something in play,” Tauchman said.

It’s been a difficult year for Tauchman, who is batting only .169 with a .567 OPS and four home runs in 47 games since coming over from the Yankees in an April trade. The 30-year-old outfielder has been attempting to make some adjustments to spur an offensive turnaround, but those tweaks remain a work in progress, as evidenced by his brutal afternoon on Wednesday.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work and trying out some new things,” Tauchman said. “Sometimes it isn’t the right timing, sometimes it isn’t the right setup and then really you just end up a jumbled mess. If I’m going to be honest, I felt a little bit like a jumbled mess today. That's why this game is so difficult, but I think that you're only really as good as your last at-bat.

“We had a lot of guys that had a lot of big at-bats for us in extra innings, and I was obviously fortunate to put a good swing on that. I'm obviously not satisfied with the way that I've played, but I'm not going to stop working, and I'm not going to stop showing up every day believing that it's about to turn around."

Earlier this week, the Giants made the unpopular decision to demote LaMonte Wade Jr. to Triple-A Sacramento and stick with Tauchman, who is out of options and can’t be sent down to the Minors without being exposed to waivers. While Tauchman is clearly still searching at the plate, the Giants continue to value his overall skill set, including his tenacity -- he’s averaged 4.59 pitches per plate appearance, second on the team behind Darin Ruf (4.70) -- and his defense, which has been among the best in the National League and led to a pair of home-run robberies that saved two games for San Francisco this season.

"I know he's been grinding and working really hard to figure out his swing and his timing and his rhythm at the plate," manager Gabe Kapler said. "All hitters go through struggles. This has been a real significant one for Mike, but he's not a quitter. He's continuing to grind and fight and stay in at-bats. I think it was nice for all of us to see him have success in his last one."

Still, it’s fair to wonder just how much more runway Tauchman will get to work through his deep offensive funk, especially since the Giants are loaded with other left-handed hitters, including Wade, Steven Duggar and Alex Dickerson, who are also pushing for playing time in the crowded outfield.

2. Another roster crunch is ahead
Wade’s demotion was unexpected, but he should be back with the Giants soon, especially after first baseman Brandon Belt departed Wednesday’s game with a right knee injury. If Belt lands back on the injured list, Wade will be an obvious candidate to be called up to help fill in at first base, a position he’s shown he can handle capably.

The Giants definitely aren’t done confronting tough roster decisions, though. Four players who are on the 60-day injured list -- Jaylin Davis, Tommy La Stella, Aaron Sanchez and Tyler Beede -- are in the midst of rehab assignments with Triple-A Sacramento and will need to be added back to the 40-man roster if the Giants want to activate them in the near future.

The Davis decision will be a particularly interesting call for the Giants, who could use more right-handed bats to balance out their outfield mix. Davis, 26, has missed most of the season with left knee patella tendinitis, but he’s been flashing his impressive power since joining the River Cats, posting a .982 OPS with four home runs and three doubles over his first nine games. Still, the Giants continue to harbor some swing-and-miss concerns with Davis, who also has 12 strikeouts in 37 at-bats.

The Giants could try to alleviate the roster crunch by trading some players off the 40-man roster ahead of the July 30 Trade Deadline, but it could be risky to sacrifice some of the depth that has helped the club rise to the top of the NL West this year. It’s certainly a good problem to have, but there don’t seem to be very many easy solutions.

3. Powering up
There were legitimate concerns about the state of the Giants’ offense after they mustered only three runs over a flat, four-game series at Nationals Park earlier this month, but their bats have come alive since then, averaging 8.11 runs per game over their next nine contests.

Power has emerged as a key part of San Francisco's offensive identity this year, as it entered Thursday with 111 home runs, the most in the Majors. It’s a historic clip for the Giants, who could have a chance to break their single-season franchise record for home runs (235), which was set by the 2001 club. Barry Bonds led the charge by crushing a record 73 homers that year, but the '21 Giants haven’t been quite as top heavy so far. Four players -- Brandon Crawford (16), Buster Posey (12), Belt (11) and Mike Yastrzemski (10) -- have already reached double digits, and several other members of the lineup have regularly come through in big spots as well.

“We have a good plan, which is laying off pitches that [opposing teams] want us to swing at, and swinging at what we want to drive,” Wilmer Flores said after notching his sixth career multi-homer game on Sunday against the Phillies. “Honestly, our team isn’t looking to hit homers all the time, but that comes with good swings and good pitches that we’re swinging at.”