The San Francisco Giants narrowly avoided elimination on Tuesday with a 2-1, extra-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 3 of the NLDS. The Giants won on an error by Reds third baseman Scott Rolen, who is typically sure-handed.
The win wasn't exactly bliss for San Francisco fans, as they were just waiting for the other shoe to drop and the season to end. Grant Brisbee of SB Nation Giants blog McCovey Chronicles summed up his feelings on behalf of Giants fans after the game:
Instead, it was a game that allowed me to dust off my favorite, if overused, words at first. Feckless. Moribund. Soporific. The offense was a tranquilizer dart shot straight into your eyeball. It wasn't supposed to hurt. But then, you know, the eyeball part. It hurt. It hurt watching the Giants flail and fail, swing and miss and miss and swing, making Homer Bailey look like Matt Cain with an extra two feet on his fastball. You kept waiting for the Reds to drop the piano from the sixth story and get that bases-clearing double or two-out RBI bloop.
San Francisco will likely need a better offensive performance to avoid elimination again in Game 4. The Giants send Barry Zito to the mound. The left-hander went 15-8 with a 4.15 ERA this season. He suffered a tough loss to the Reds on June 30, allowing just one run in six innings.
The Reds send Mike Leake to the mound. He tossed a complete game, giving up just one run, in his only start against the Giants this season.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. PT on Wednesday.