Blach to face familiar foe
LOS ANGELES — Ty Blach will be challenged to outdo his Opening Day start against the Dodgers when he pitches Tuesday’s home opener against the Mariners. He threw five shutout innings in a 1-0 Giants victory.
Blach will face a pitcher he knows well from their travel squad days in Colorado.
Left-hander Marco Gonzales grew up in Fort Collins, about 90 minutes north of Blach. They sparred on the mound as kids, though Blach is about 18 months older than Gonzales, who was drafted by the Cardinals out of Gonzaga and ran into arm trouble before a trade to Seattle.
“We have very similar pitching styles, for sure,” Blach said. “He’s got a good changeup, good offspeed, he mixes his pitches well and swings the bat pretty well. It’ll be fun to go up against him.”
Wednesday should be equally fun — for the fans, not the hitters. Johnny Cueto will face Felix Hernandez. They pitched a combined 121⁄3 shutout innings in their first starts. Samardzija update: Jeff Samardzija is not enjoying his first career trip to the disabled list. He sounds like an ex-smoker going through withdrawals.
“I watch,” Samardzija said. “I choke it down, but I’m not happy about it.”
Samardzija and the medical staff have a game plan for his return from a pectoral strain. He came through Sunday’s 20-pitch bullpen session fine, will throw two more Tuesday and Friday, and then if all is well, he’ll begin a minorleague rehab assignment.
A realistic goal for his debut is April 15 at San Diego. Old man swinging: Bench coach Hensley Meulens still can swing the bat at 50. He hit one out of Scottsdale Stadium against a batting-practice pitcher this spring.
Manager Bruce Bochy recalled the last time he took a full swing trying to mash a baseball, in 1991. He was 36 but four years into retirement and managing the Padres’ California League team, which was on the road in San Jose. When his hitters started whining about how deep the fences were at Municipal Stadium, Bochy said, “Give me a bat!”
“They threw me a pitch. I swung as hard as I’d ever swung, went down and ruptured a disk,” Bochy said. “They carried me off. I ended up lying in bed for 5½ weeks.”