When Madison Bumgarner landed on the disabled list in mid-April, it was Ty Blach who got the call to take his spot on the roster.
Fast forward three months later. Bumgarner is back in the rotation, but not to replace Blach, as the left-hander has earned the confidence of Bruce Bochy and the Giants’ coaching staff.
That trust was on full display in the Giants’ 2-1 win over the Indians on Tuesday night. In the top of the seventh inning, the Indians had two runners on with two outs. With 104 pitches already thrown, Blach was left in the game and induced a groundout from Carlos Santana to retire the side unharmed.
“[Blach] just did a nice job of mixing up the pitches,” Bochy said following the game. “I thought he was strong, even with that last hitter, he had 105 pitches or so and got the big out.”
“Just did what we were hoping.”
The same can’t be said for the rest of the Giants’ roster, as the team sits at 36-59 in the midst of a rocky 2017 season.
But Blach has been solid at the back of the rotation, especially recently. He sports a 2.32 ERA in a combined 19 and 1/3 innings pitched in his last three starts.
“I’m getting out over my front side a little bit better, that’s been getting the ball down in the zone, getting some more groundballs, that’s been good for me,” Blach said.
After the Giants tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, Blach recorded the first two outs in the seventh. He then gave up a pair of singles to set the stage for Santana, pinch hitting for starter Mike Clevinger. An inside fastball forced a groundout to neutralize the threat, eventually allowing the Giants to walk off in the bottom of the 10th inning.
“I felt like I was making good pitches there [in the seventh inning] and just a couple of tough breaks on some pitches there,” Blach said. “For them to let me go out there was awesome.”
Blach has worked hard over the past few months to earn a spot in the starting rotation, and his performance in the latter half of the season will dictate whether he can solidify that spot moving forward.