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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.Charlotte Hornets Store .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Charlotte Hornets Shirts . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. https://www.cheaphornets.com/ .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. Hornets Jerseys 2021 . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. Fake Hornets Jerseys .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights.OAKLAND (7-9) at NEW ORLEANS (7-9)Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FoxOPENING LINE -- Saints by 2SERIES RECORD -- Saints lead 6-5-1LAST MEETING -- Saints beat Raiders 38-17, Nov. 18, 2012AP PRO32 RANKING -- Raiders No. 13, Saints No. 24RAIDERS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (24), RUSH (28), PASS (16).RADIERS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (22), RUSH (13), PASS (26).SAINTS OFFENSE -- OVERALL (2), RUSH (24), PASS (1).SAINTS DEFENSE -- OVERALL (31), RUSH (31), PASS (31).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES -- Raiders QB Derek Carr passed for career-high 3,987 yards, 32 TDs last season. ... Carr is only QB in Raiders history with more than 3,500 yards passing, 30-plus TDs in season. ... Car passed for 300 yards six times last season. ... RB Latavius Murray rushed for career-best 1,066 yards, six TDs in 2015. ... WR Amari Cooper led all 2015 rookies with 72 catches, 1,070 yards receiving, including five 100-yard games. Cooper had six TDs receiving. ... WR Michael Crabtree led Raiders with career-high 85 catches, nine TDs, last season. ... DE Khalil Mack had career-high 15 sacks, second most in NFL last season. Mack also had 23 tackles for loss. ... S Reggie Nelson tied for NFL lead with career-high eight INTs last year with Bengals. LB Bruce Irvin makes Raiders regular-season debut after four seasons with Seahawks. ... Saints QB Drew Brees led NFL with 4,870 yards passing in 2015. Brees has 48,555 yards passing in 10 seasons with Saints, most yards passing in 10-year stint in NFL history. His 600,903 career yards passing make Brees fourth player in NFL history with 60,000.dddddddddddd ... Brees needs 459 yards to move past Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino (61,361) for third all-time. ... RB Mark Ingram has 1,100-plus scrimmage yards past two seasons. ... WR Brandin Cooks led Saints with career-high 1,138 yards receiving, nine TDs last season. ... TE Coby Fleener makes Saints debut. He had career-high 54 catches for 491 yards, three TDs in 2015 with Colts. ... DE Cam Jordan led Saints with 10 sacks last season. ... Saints 2006 second-round draft pick S Roman Harper plays for New Orleans for first time since 2013 season after past two years with Panthers. ... Saints 2006 fourth-round pick RG Jahri Evans expected to start after being re-signed this week. Evans spent preseason with Seattle after release from Saints; he only has played for Saints in regular season. ... Saints defense has ranked 31st in yards allowed past two seasons. ... Former Raiders coach Dennis Allen opens season as Saints defensive coordinator after returning to New Orleans last season as senior assistant. Allen took over as coordinator last November when Rob Ryan was fired. ... Fantasy Tip: WR Brandin Cooks led Saints with career-high 1,138 yards receiving, nine TDs last season.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '