DETROIT _ As Madison Bumgarner moves closer to a full recovery, there's no guarantee Ty Blach will stick around in the Giants rotation.
But he made his case Wednesday night.
The Giants rookie breezed through the first six innings before hitting a speed bump in the seventh. The solid outing, backed by another productive night from Hunter Pence, was enough to carry the Giants to a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
The Giants are now 27-13 this season when they score at least four runs in a game.
With the win, they also clinched their first winning road trip in exactly a year. That was last June 29-July 3, when they went 3-2 against Arizona and the A's.
Pence, looking like him again, delivered run-scoring ground out in the third inning and a two-run triple in the fourth. Pence now has 16 RBIs over his past 21 games.
Blach took over Bumgarner's rotation spot in April and has had his ups and downs since then. This was definitely an up. Relying on a 90-mph two-seam fastball and an 80-mph changeup, he looked in command early. His final line: six innings, three earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts.
He had help from several defensive gems by Jae-Gyun Hwang. The third baseman's rangy night included a diving, backhanded stop to haul in a bad hop in the sixth. Then Hwang pounced to his feet to throw out Nicholas Castellanos.
Sam Dyson, acquired from the Texas Rangers on June 6 for a player to be named later, recorded his third save in three chances. All of the saves have come on this six-game trip through Pittsburgh and Detroit.
This time Dyson retired the side in order on seven pitches.
