 as the Giants' bats broke out after being held to six runs during the four-game skid. Blach (3-2) struck out four of the first eight batters he faced and didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning. He allowed six hits and two runs in 7 2-3 innings and didn't allow a runner to reach third until the eighth when Atlanta scored twice to end his night. Derek Law got the final out in the eighth and Mark Melancon got two outs for his 10th save in 12 chances. Hundley, getting the start behind the plate to give Buster Posey a rest, opened the scoring with his first homer of the season in the second. He added two more hits, including an RBI single in the eighth. The Giants broke the game open with three runs in the fourth, starting when Belt led off the inning with his 10th homer of the season. San Francisco added four straight two-out hits, getting an RBI single from Blach and a run-scoring double from Denard Span to make it 5-0. Foltynewicz allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings. TRAINER'S ROOMBraves: 3B Adonis Garcia (Achilles strain) went 1 for 3 with a run and RBI in seven innings in his second rehab game at Triple-A Gwinnett. Giants: OF Jarrett Parker took live BP for the first time since breaking his left collarbone April 15 and is expected to begin a rehab assignment next week. ... OF Hunter Pence (left hamstring) also took BP and could begin a rehab assignment in four or five days. ... INF Conor Gillaspie had an MRI after having a setback in his rehab when he complained of tightness in his back after a swing. HOME COOKINGBlach, who stepped into the rotation after ace Madison Bumgarner got hurt in April, has been stellar at home. He has a 1.87 ERA in five starts at AT&T Park. RARE LEFTYThis marked just the fourth time all season the Braves faced a left-handed starter, fewest in the majors. Danny Santana got the start at third base in place of Rio Ruiz to get another right-handed bat in the lineup but it didn't help. Santana went 0 for 3 against Blach and Atlanta fell to 2-2 this season against lefties. UP NEXTKnuckleballer R. A. Dickey (3-3) takes the mound for Atlanta in the series finale against Johnny Cueto (4-4).---More baseball: apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Time: 10:05 PM EDT Venue: AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA, 94107 SAN FRANCISCO -- A team that struggles to hit at AT&T Park will encounter a pitcher who has been near-perfect at home when the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants meet for the second time in their three-game series Saturday night. The Braves scratched out just seven hits and two runs (one unearned) on Friday night, but it was enough to post a 2-0 victory, their sixth straight win in a series opener. The victory was just the Braves' second in their last six games in San Francisco, a stretch during which they've scored only 11 runs. They've never seen Giants left-hander Ty Blach during that run, which is probably a good thing. The second-year starter already has established quite a record at home. Blach (2-2, 4.10 ERA) has pitched well in all four of his home starts this season, allowing just five runs and 17 hits in 26 innings. When three relief outings are added in, Blach's home ERA (1.59) is the fifth best in baseball this season among pitchers who have made at least four home starts. Remarkably, the Braves will be seeing a left-handed starting pitcher for just the fourth time all season. They've gone 2-1 with an impressive .299 batting average against lefty starters in the small sample size. Atlanta had the lefty going Friday night, and he was the difference in the game both on the mound and at the plate. Jaime Garcia combined with three relievers on a four-hit shutout, and he produced the game's only runs with an RBI single on which a throwing error allowed a second baserunner to score." I expect that," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Garcia's pitching, not his hitting. "It's good to see him coming around." Seeking a second straight win to start a nine-game trip, Snitker will go with right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, who enjoyed his last visit to San Francisco. The 25-year-old swept the Giants in two games last season, including a 3-1 victory at AT&T Park in August in which he allowed just one run and five hits in 7 2/3 innings, his second-longest outing of the season. Foltynewicz (3-4, 3.86) enters the game on a bit of a roll, having won his last three starts while allowing a total of just five runs. He hasn't had a bad start on the road all season, having compiled a 2.55 ERA -- the 14th best in baseball -- in five outings, including four starts. Foltynewicz will see a Giants team that's struggling offensively. The shutout in Friday's series opener was their fifth of the season, and they've been held to six runs during their four-game losing streak. He's 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA in four career starts against the Giants. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy was expecting more from his team than he got in Friday's loss." We're in this offensive struggle right now," Bochy noted after the opener of his team's six-game homestand. "I thought we'd come home and gets some rips in, but it didn't happen. Their guy was good." One Giant who got his rips in Friday night was third baseman Eduardo Nunez, who had two of the team's four hits while extending his hitting streak to 12 games.
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