San Francisco Giants: Blach Deals; Offense Fails

The San Francisco Giants struggled to get the bats going at all in today’s game. Ty Blach had been struggling as of late. He pitched well today but he just couldn’t get any help from his offense as the Giants lost 2-1.

The San Francisco Giants needed someone to pitch a great game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Who better than rookie Ty Blach who has great career numbers against them. He has only given up five earned runs in 30 carrer ininngs against the Dodgers. They  asked, and he delivered. Blach pitched fantastic in seven strong innings of work today only allowing two runs. It is unfortunate that he got the loss that he didn’t deserve. The Dodgers could have got more runs but Blach’s athleticism and pitching got him out of some tight spots.

In the very first inning the Dodgers were set up for a huge inning. After a Corey Seager double and Justin Turner walk, Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger got an RBI single. Blach then walked Logan Forsythe and loaded up the bases for Yasiel Puig. It was very noticeable form the beginning that Blach wasn’t sharp but he pulled through and got Puig to hit into a double play.

In the third inning the young Dodgers studs were at it again. Corey Seager doubled and Cody Bellinger knocked him in with another RBI single. At that point it became 2-0 and that was all the Dodgers would need.

Dodgers starter Rich Hill did not struggle at all in this game. His only blunder was giving up a Hunter Pence home run after retiring the first 11 batters of the game. That was Pence’s seventh of the year.

There was not much more action until the ninth. The Giants had a chance to tie the game up against Kenley Jansen. with two-on and two-out the game game down to a Jae-Gwyn Hwang at-bat where he just could not catch up to the fast ball and struck out. Interesting note, that at-bat most likely would have been Brandon Belt instead of Hwang if Belt’s wrist was not sore. I would have had more confidence of the outcome if Belt had been batting. Once again, somehow the Giants came close but just couldn’t get that big hit to win the game.

Tomorrow the Giants will send out their ace Madison Bumgarner to try and avoid a Dodger sweep.

Next: Five Trades the Giants should make by Monday

Game Notes:

Who said Pitchers aren’t athletes?- Ty Blach flashed the leather on multiple occasions during today’s game.  Blach is a Triple-A Gold- Glove Award winner in the past so it wasn’t surprising to see the athleticism coming from him today.

28 year-old Carlos Moncrief made his Major League Debut today pinch-hitting in the eighth inning. He drew a walk for the Giants.

Madison Bumgarner will pitch the finale tomorrow instead of Matt Cain. The switch up shows that despite how this season has gone, the Giants are still trying to make these games as meaningful as possible.

Injuries- Brandon Belt sat out for the second straight game with wrist soreness. Nick Hundley was unavailable due to feeling a headache still from after getting a foul to the catchers mask in last nights game. He will get checked for a concussion.