Blach subdues LA in Giants' 5th straight win

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ty Blach maintained his mastery over the Los Angeles Dodgers, working seven stubborn innings Tuesday night to pace the San Francisco Giants to a 2-1 decision for their fifth consecutive victory.
Blach yielded five hits, including Chris Taylor's sixth-inning home run, in the Giants' sixth consecutive quality start. The left-hander owns a 1.17 ERA in four career outings against the Dodgers, compared with 4.71 in 12 outings against other Major League competition.
"He's one of those guys who's unflappable. He just keeps coming at you ... and he has more stuff than he gets credit for," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
Dodgers starter Rich Hill, who hadn't pitched since April 16 due to a finger blister, also performed capably, lapsing only once in his five-inning stint when Brandon Belt smacked a fourth-inning homer on a hanging curveball, confirmed after a crew-chief review ruled out fan interference.

San Francisco broke a 1-1 tie in its half of the sixth against Dodgers reliever Luis Avilán as Belt singled, advanced on a wild pitch, moved to third on Buster Posey's grounder and scored on Brandon Crawford's single. It was an example of textbook baseball, as Posey hit the ball to the right side specifically to move up Belt 90 feet.
• Cast your Esurance All-Star ballot for Belt and other #ASGWorthy players
"For a guy who's hitting close to .400 to give up his at-bat to move the runner, it just shows you what kind of team player he is," Giants first baseman-outfielder Michael Morse said of Posey. "Not only that, but he also has faith that the guy behind him is going to do his job."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts rested left-handed-hitting sluggers Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager against Blach. Their replacements (Franklin Gutierrez and Kiké Hernandez) went 3-for-7, but the last five spots in the batting order went 0-for-18 and the Dodgers are 3-6 against the Giants this year, with four of the losses by one run.
"If you look at the quality of [the Giants'] contact tonight, they found some outfield grass and haven't squared the baseball up, and that's baseball," said Roberts. "When they get a guy in scoring position, they find a way to score, they do. We're 3-7 in one-run games and we've got to find a way to win them. When you play close games, situationally we can do better."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
First-rate at second: Making his first Major League start at second base, Giants rookie Christian Arroyo executed a heads-up play to deny Los Angeles a fourth-inning run. Arroyo fielded Austin Barnes' one-out grounder and threw home to retire Justin Turner, the baserunner at third who hesitated before breaking for the plate.
"That ended up being the difference in the game," Bochy said. More >

Bet on Blach: Blach was especially stingy in the sixth inning after looking vulnerable. He yielded singles to Gutierrez and Hernandez following Taylor's homer, but dodged further trouble by coaxing harmless flies to right field from Barnes and Yasiel Puig.
"I got back to making quality pitches," Blach said. "I was behind [on the count to] a lot of guys tonight and kind of had to battle through some things like that, but Buster did a great job of keeping me focused there at the end."
WHAT'S NEXT
Dodgers:Clayton Kershaw tries for the second time this year to become a career 20-game winner against the Giants when he starts the trip finale Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. PT. Kershaw is 19-9 against San Francisco with a 1.66 ERA, but he lost to the Giants, 4-3, on May 1. Seager and Bellinger are expected to return to the lineup after not starting Tuesday night.
Giants: Suffice it to say that the Giants feel good behind Johnny Cueto, their scheduled starter for Wednesday's 12:45 p.m. PT series finale. They're 6-2 in his starts, including 3-0 at AT&T Park. He's coming off a 119-pitch no-decision last Friday against Cincinnati.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.