SAN FRANCISCO -- After Ty Blach had thrown his final pitch Saturday afternoon, a high fastball past the bat of Kiké Hernandez for strike three, and hopped off the mound and jogged briskly into the Giants’ dugout, the left-hander leaned against the railing, a wide smile on his face, and listened to Jake Peavy.
Peavy has won 152 games in the majors. He had just watched Blach win his first in the unlikeliest of ways. Making his second major-league start, in a game with huge playoff implications for his team, Blach outpitched Clayton Kershaw, confounding the Dodgers for eight scoreless innings in a 3-0 Giants win at AT&T Park.