SAN FRANCISCO–On Thursday, August 3, the San Francisco Giants defeated the Oakland A’s in an 11-2 win that manager Bruce Bochy dubbed, “The Ty Blach Show.”
Good news for Blach and the Giants fans: Tuesday was episode No. 2 and it was just as entertaining.
After throwing eight innings of two-run ball and hitting a monstrous three-run home run in a win over the A’s, Blach returned to the mound on a brisk Tuesday night and logged seven frames of two-run ball while adding an RBI single in the Giants’ 6-3 defeat of the defending world champion Chicago Cubs.
The 26-year-old Giants’ rookie who began the year in the team’s bullpen has become the silver lining of a lost season for San Francisco, as his post All-Star break emergence continues to defy expectations.
“I talked about this in his previous couple of games, I know against the the Dodgers he’s done well there,” Bochy said. “But when a Major League pitcher commands the ball well, both sides, has a good changeup, breaking ball to go with it, he went up a few times tonight, and just locates well. He’s got good movement, he gets the ground balls, he’s got poise out there. He did a good job to minimize the damage tonight.”
Blach’s seven-inning stint against a potent Chicago lineup marked his fifth consecutive outing with at least seven innings, and was the fourth such start in which he allowed two or fewer earned runs.
For a pitcher who doesn’t boast traditional swing-and-miss “stuff,” and a player who lost out on the Giants’ fifth starter job to Matt Cain in Spring Training, Blach’s unlikely path to becoming one of San Francisco’s most reliable arms is a welcome sign for a hurler who has all but locked up a role in his club’s rotation heading into 2018.
In Blach’s last outing, his three-run home run to dead center field –a 417-foot missile that put an exclamation mark on the Giants’ win– was the first three-run homer San Francisco had hit at AT&T Park this season. The majestic blast stunned his Giants’ teammates, and even surprised Blach, but also underscored the lack of power his team’s lineup has produced, especially at home this year.
On Tuesday, though, Blach was again the beneficiary of a three-run home run, and this time, it came off the bat of his usual battery-mate, catcher Buster Posey. While Posey was the starting first baseman in Tuesday’s ballgame, he still found a way to make Blach feel comfortable on the hill.
After the Giants’ starter rolled a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Cubs’ star Anthony Rizzo in the top of the first inning, Blach received a three-run cushion in the bottom half thanks to a Posey blast that just crept over the wall in left center field.
“It was nice to get on the board there against a good pitcher and then Blach, he did a good job getting us through seven,” Posey said.
Posey’s shot plated center fielder Gorkys Hernandez and right fielder Hunter Pence, who were both near the top of the Giants’ order in a heavy right-handed lineup drawn up to combat new Cubs’ lefty Jose Quintana, who was acquired from the White Sox ahead of Major League Baseball’s trade deadline.
Though it will be Quintana who likely plays a pivotal role in a starting rotation this postseason, it was Blach who dominated the battle of southpaws on Tuesday night.
Aside from flummoxing Chicago hitters with his arsenal, Blach also stung Quintana for an opposite-field base hit in the bottom of the fourth inning that plated Brandon Crawford and extended the Giants’ lead to 4-0.
“The last couple of outings we’ve had some early leads for me and it makes it fun to pitch,” Blach said. “You can go out and attack the zone and be aggressive and let the defense make plays. Guys did a great job all day, we put the pressure on them and kept adding on, that was big.”
Blach’s two-out knock bailed out eight-hitter Kelby Tomlinson, who failed to drive in Crawford from third base with less than two outs after a short flyout to right field.
Tomlinson did make up for the run later in the game, though, as his leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh set the stage for a Joe Panik RBI groundout that pushed San Francisco’s advantage to 5-2.
Panik actually began the night on the Giants’ bench, but entered the ballgame in the top of the second inning after second baseman Miguel Gomez injured himself running to first base in the bottom of the first inning.
The Cubs’ two runs off of Blach came in the middle innings, as Jason Heyward scored on an RBI groundout from Jon Jay in the fifth while Wilson Contreras came home on a double by rookie Ian Happ in the top of the sixth.
After the Cubs cut the deficit in half, Blach returned to the mound in the top of the seventh and spun a 1-2-3 frame to finish his evening and become the only starter on the Giants’ staff with a winning record, as he improved to 8-7.
“It’s been fun,” Blach said. “I’ve had some really great catching behind me. Buster and Nick have done a great job. Defense has been tremendous so just going out there and trying to execute pitches has been fun.”