SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a reason Bruce Bochy made it clear before Saturday’s game that Jeff Samardzija would be available out of the bullpen: He wasn’t expecting Ty Blach, five days removed from a shaky first career start, to survive for very long in a high stakes game against one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Blach not only did that on Saturday in the Giants 3-0 victory over the Dodgers, he was transcendent, out-pitching Clayton Kershaw at every turn and leaving Los Angeles hitters scratching their collective heads as he jogged to the dugout with growing confidence at the end of each inning.
“It’s one of the best pitching performances I’ve seen,” said manager Bruce Bochy, a man with 38 years of major league experience under his belt. “Kid’s a month into the big leagues. With what was at stake, who he was going against…We had a lot of confidence in him. He did a tremendous job. We’re really proud of what he did today.”
Blach was dominant through eight shutout innings, striking out six, four looking, to earn his first career win, helping the Giants clinch a tie for the second NL Wild Card spot.
It’s not as if Bochy’s decision to give Blach the ball over the more polished Albert Suarez was made on a whim. Blach was the best starter in 2016 for the Giants AAA affiliate Sacramento Rivercats and was exceptional in his first few appearances in the big leagues, allowing just a single hit in six innings of relief.
But Bochy’s been around long enough to know that Saturday wasn’t going to be the easiest outing for any pitcher, let alone a kid stepping on the mound at AT&T Park for the first time, his parents in attendance, and a playoff spot on the line.
Blach proved to be unfazed, despite Kershaw opening the game with three perfect innings. That’s the same number of innings Blach lasted in his first ever start in San Diego, a performance that made Saturday’s unlikely performance even more surprising.
“I think the biggest thing was getting some nerves out of the way and just the crispness of everything,” said Blach. “My stuff was good today. In San Diego I was kind’ve all over the place a little bit, and just being able to dial it in and command the baseball today was big for me.”
Part of the difference likely had to do with Buster Posey being behind the dish, something that was not the case in San Diego. Posey heaped praise on Blach after the game, saying he hasn’t caught a young pitcher that talented since a fresh-faced Madison Bumgarner joined the team in 2009.
“There’s not much more that excites me than a young player in a big moment, who kind’ve seizes the opportunity,” Posey said. “That’s what it’s about right there, that’s why you play the game. To be a part of stuff like that.”
Blach is smart enough to know that Posey is not a stranger to big moments, and had no qualms letting the All-Star catcher call the game.
“I don’t think I shook him off once,” Blach said smiling. “I know the catcher has done their homework, especially Buster. If I can be in a rhythm with them and have a good feeling about what he’s putting down, I’m gonna roll with that.”
Perhaps even more impressive than Blach’s dominance on the mound, was his proficiency with the bat, going 2-for-4 against Kershaw, who has only given up two hits to another pitcher all season: Madison Bumgarner. The lefty couldn’t help but chuckle when asked about it, while remaining modest in his response.
“That was just one of those things where he was trying to get quick outs. He got a few pitches over the plate and I was able to get good swings on them.”
Blach’s signature moment came in the the seventh when the villainous Yasiel Puig stepped into the batters box, amidst a chorus of boos from the sell-out crowd at AT&T Park.
In his previous at-bat, Puig tagged Blach for one of his two hits to that point. Blach wasted no time getting ahead in the rematch, as Puig watched a perfectly placed 90 MPH fastball whizz by him for strike one. Blach hurled his next pitch to the same spot, this time an 80 MPH changeup, nearly causing the mercurial power hitter to swing out of his shoes. Blach finished the job with another fastball, painting the outside corner for strike three. Puig could only watch it into Posey’s glove before giving a pleading look to home plate umpire Herwin Danly as Giants fans went into a frenzy.
“You could definitely hear the crowd. They were getting into it,” Blach said reminiscing. “They were great all day. It’s awesome whenever you can play in front of these kind of fans.
“After that strikeout they had a little extra cheer in there for him.”
An inning later, Blach’s day ended with another strikeout of Kike Hernandez. When he ran off the mound and into the dugout this time, his teammates were waiting for him, wasting no time to ceremoniously shower him with water.
After drying off, Blach tried to soak in the moment, leaning on the dugout railing to take a deep breath before veteran Jake Peavy sidled up to give him congratulations on his first big-league victory.
“He was just saying I should be proud of what I did. Just know that my first win coming against that team and against that pitcher, is something pretty special.”
Blach’s start was definitely special on Sunday, and pending a Giants’ deep postseason run, it’s one we’ll remember for a long time.