Under pressure from Capitol Hill, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has pinned the blame on the San Francisco Giants for their handling of the team’s Pride Night this month — an event that’s turned into a political mess for the league office.After Pride Night on June 12, MLB warned members of the Giants that Bible verses they donned on their ball caps that evening were against the sport’s rules. Four days later, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to MLB suggesting the league had engaged in “a pattern of discrimination” against Christian players. The Department of Justice also joined the fray, saying the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would investigate.Now, in a letter dated June 19 and publicly revealed Monday, Manfred responded to Hawley by pointing a finger at the Giants’ “lapse in communication.”When the league issued its warning over the writings, MLB did not know the team had failed to inform players that they could take the field without Pride logos, Manfred wrote.“Unfortunately, this year the Giants’ communication with players was inadequate and not clear,” Manfred wrote in a three-page letter to Hawley, which the senator shared on social media. “Some players apparently did not understand that they had the option to wear their normal uniform and elected to add messages to their hats bearing the pride logo as a result.”The players were not fined or punished, “nor will they ever be,” the commissioner wrote.The Giants declined comment Monday.On Pride Night at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker and Ryan Walker inscribed some variation of “Gen 9: 12-16” on their caps. A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, declined to wear the hat altogether, and instead wore San Francisco’s standard black hat with orange lettering.Three of the pitchers have subsequently said they did not feel discriminated against or pressured to wear a Pride hat, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.Hawley wrote on social media Monday that Manfred’s letter was an admission that “they were wrong to threaten the Giants players over Bible verses and promises never to fine or discipline these players — or any players for their religious beliefs.”