LOS ANGELES -- As anticipated, manager Bruce Bochy said Friday that the Giants will indeed stick with their four-man starting rotation as long as they possibly can due to scheduled off-days. The exclusivity period ends with the April 10 game against Arizona at AT&T Park.
That'll mark the first day the Giants will need a fifth starter. It was supposed to be Opening Day winner Ty Blach, but the injuries to Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija enabled the left-hander to slide into the rotation earlier.
Possible choices for that April 10 start include left-hander Andrew Suarez and right-hander Tyler Beede, who are beginning the season with Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants also could entrust the game to the bullpen -- particularly right-handers Pierce Johnson and Roberto Gomez, whom Bochy considers as surrogate long relievers. But that sort of thing rarely happens in the regular season and is more of a Spring Training ploy.
Bochy already has done plenty of thinking about this game. Asked if he already had determined who might receive this assignment, he replied, "Yeah."
• Bochy said Samardzija, who's recovering from a strained right pectoral muscle, played catch at distances up to 90 feet.
• The Giants' 1-0 triumph over Los Angeles on Thursday was their first by that score in franchise history on Opening Day. It also was San Francisco's first 1-0 win at Dodger Stadium and its first by that score over the Dodgers since Sept. 21, 2008.