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SAN FRANCISCO -- For his second start in the majors, Ty Blachs task was pretty simple: Beat Clayton Kershaw, boost San Franciscos playoff chances.Easy.The rookie left-hander outpitched Kershaw, and the Giants held onto their lead for the last NL wild-card spot going into the final day of the regular season, blanking the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 Saturday.Anytime you get the chance to go out there in a playoff race and give your team a chance, its a lot of fun, the 25-year-old Blach said. I appreciated the opportunity and tried to make the most of it.The Giants stayed one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card slot. The Cardinals beat visiting Pittsburgh 4-3 earlier in the day.Matt Moore will start for the Giants on Sunday, and a win -- or St. Louis loss -- puts them in the playoffs. The New York Mets will host the NL wild-card game on Wednesday night.Were not getting too giddy here, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. We have work to do.Blach (1-0) earned his first big league victory, pitching eight innings of three-hit ball. He struck out six and walked one, and also got his first two hits.This was the fourth game in the majors for Blach since he made his major league debut in September.Thats one of the best pitching performances Ive seen, with this kid having a month in the major leagues, the stage he was on, whats at stake, who he was going against, Bochy said. He just had great focus and great command. This kid was locked in. Its hard to go pitch a better game than he did today.Sergio Romo pitched a hitless ninth for his fourth save.Kershaw (12-4) gave up three runs, two of them unearned, in seven innings. Angel Pagan homered in the fifth to break a scoreless tie.Kershaw is already set to pitch the opener in the best-of-five Division Series against Washington. The Dodgers loss gave the Nationals home-field advantage in that matchup.Were on a little bit of a slide here, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said following his clubs fourth loss in five games. Today wasnt a good day for the quality of at-bats. Some with the lack of familiarity (with Blach), but even with that I think we gave away a lot of at-bats.The Dodgers-Giants result was posted on the videoboard at Nationals Park in the seventh inning while Washington played Miami. It was announced that the Nationals had clinched the home field, and the crowd responded with a standing ovation.One day after gaining national attention for body-slamming a fan who had run onto the field, Pagan hit a 1-1 pitch from Kershaw into the left-field stands. It was Pagans 12th home run of the season and his first off Kershaw in 68 career at-bats.The Dodgers were limited to three singles and got only one runner to second base.Blach got Joc Pederson to ground into an inning-ending double play in the second after the Dodgers put two on, struck out the side looking in the third and retired 11 straight during one stretch.No matter how big the stage is, you have to go out and do the same thing as a pitcher, Blach said. I felt pretty good. We were able to get rolling in the first inning and after the second, with a couple guys on, was able to bounce back and just get into cruise mode from there and execute pitches.Los Angeles third baseman Justin Turner also committed a throwing error in the seventh when the Giants scored a pair of unearned runs off Kershaw.Kershaw retired 12 of the first 13 before Pagans one-out homer leading off the fifth.TRAINERS ROOMGiants: Eduardo Nunez ran on a treadmill but is all but certain to sit out the regular season finale and likely the wild card round of the playoffs. The team is optimistic that the veteran infielder can return if San Francisco gets deeper into the postseason.UP NEXTDodgers: Kenta Maeda (16-10) pitches the finale at AT&T Park on Sunday. The right-hander is unbeaten in three career starts against San Francisco.Giants: Moore (12-12) faces the Dodgers after matching his career-high of 11 strikeouts against Colorado in his previous start. Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. USA Soccer Jerseys China . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Stitched USA Soccer Jerseys . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. USA Soccer Pro Shop . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Martin Perez wants to keep the spot in the Texas Rangers rotation that appeared to be his before getting hurt in spring training. That wont be a problem if the young left-hander keeps pitching like this, throwing six-hit ball into the seventh inning in a 4-0 victory over the scuffling Cincinnati Reds on Friday night. "Throwing strikes, pounding the strike zone, not getting caught in any patterns, great mound presence. All of the above," manager Ron Washington said. "Hes doing everything hes supposed to do to be successful." While Perez (2-1) went 6 2-3 scoreless innings and seems healthy, Reds starter Johnny Cueto (4-2) was gone a batter into the second inning because of tightness in his right lat muscle. Cueto, their opening day starter who has already been on the disabled list twice this season because of similar issues, will be sent back to Cincinnati to see a doctor. "Its the same thing," manager Dusty Baker said. "It happened in the first inning again. Its very discouraging for him and for us." The 22-year-old Perez was the leading candidate for the No. 5 spot in the Rangers rotation before getting hit by a batted ball and breaking a bone in his forearm during a spring training game. He was called up from Triple-A Round Rock as the 26th man to start the first game of a split doubleheader at Arizona on May 27, then came back -- maybe this time for the rest of the season -- last Saturday, when he allowed only two runs in seven innings in a win at St. Louis. "I just want to continue to do the same job. I dont want to change my routine," Perez said. "Throw my changeup, my sinker and my fastball away." Perez allowed runs in each of the first two innings at St. Louis last weekend before holding the Cardinals scoreless over his last five innings. Cincinnati has lost three games in a row, and six of seven. The Reds have been shut out in consecutive games, and six times this season. Jason Frasor and Robbie Ross finished off the Rangers second shutout in a row and seventh this season. The Rangers won 2-0 at the New York Yankees on Thursday to cap a 5-1 trip that included a three-game sweep of the Cardinals. Texas has won nine of 11 games since a six-game losing streak. Texas went ahead to stay after scoring a first-inning run for the first time in 20 games, since June 7 at Toronto. Elvis Andrus reached on a one-out infielld single, stole second base and scored on Adrian Beltres single.dddddddddddd Cueto clearly grimaced on at least one pitch to Beltre, then did so again after throwing a 1-2 fastball that Mitch Moreland fouled off leading off the second. It was his last pitch. Asked if there was any consideration to not send Cueto out for the second, Baker responded, "The doctor said sometimes things will loosen up, and he said he was OK." It was only Cuetos third start since missing the first half of June while on the DL with a strained right shoulder. He also missed more than a month earlier this season because of a strained right lat. Moreland took a called third strike on the first pitch thrown by Tony Cingrani, who then needed 37 more pitches to finish the second. He had four walks in the inning, all on full-count pitches. Jurickson Profar drew a walk before David Murphy singled. Cingrani later walked three consecutive batters -- Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus and Nelson Cruz, the latter two forcing in runs. Beltre had a leadoff single in the fifth and scored on a single by Profar, the 20-year-old rookie who had a couple of spectacular defensive plays at shortstop in a game when Andrus was the designated hitter. Profar went way to his right to backhand Devin Mesoracos grounder starting the third, planted his foot in short left field and made a strong throw to get the out at first. An inning later, Profar went up the middle to make another nifty grab and take a hit away from Brandon Phillips. "Great defence," Perez said. "Its amazing." NOTES: Perezs only walk came with two outs in the seventh to load the bases. Frasor needed only one pitch to coax an inning-ending grounder by Mesoraco. ... Perez turned a comebacker into a double play after the Reds had consecutive singles to start the second. ... Phillips had missed both games in Oakland while on paternity leave. He returned to play on his 32nd birthday. ... Cingrani allowed three runs over four innings with six walks and three strikeouts. ... RHP Chris Leake, the Reds scheduled starter Saturday, is 5-1 his last eight starts. Rookie RHP Nick Tepesch (3-6) pitches for Texas. ... Reliever Joakim Soria, who has yet to make his Rangers debut because he is recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw a scoreless inning for Triple-A Round Rock on Friday night. The right-hander struck out two and threw 13 of 17 pitches for strikes. ' ' '