The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds in Game 3 of the NLDS to avoid elimination, but the offense continued its series-long struggles. Reds pitching allowed just one earned run and no extra-base hits in the 10-inning affair.
Reds fans may be disappointed they couldn't close out the series on Tuesday, but are happy with what the team is getting from their starting pitching. Ace Johnny Cueto is out with an injury, and the rest of the staff needs to step up to fill the void. Reds blog Reds Reporter observed they have done just that:
Homer Bailey took a no-hitter into the 6th, continuing the dominance he displayed in his no-hitter in his last outing vs. the Pirates in the Regular Season. Bailey finished with a 1 hitter in his 7 IP, the second consecutive Reds starter to toss 7 innings of 1 hit baseball this postseason. Considering Cueto's unfortunate mystery oblique/back issue, it's rather awesome to see Arroyo recapture his past stuff, Bailey reach the lofty potential he always had, and Latos show that he's capable of surprise spontaneous spot-starts.
The Reds will send Mike Leake to the mound in Game 4. Leake was added to the playoff roster after Cueto went down with the back injury.
The Giants will counter with left-hander Barry Zito, who went 15-8 with a 4.15 ERA on the season. San Francisco will try to stave off elimination again at 1:07 PT in Cincinnati.