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| Jeremy Affeldt and the Giants bullpen was dominant in Game 3. (Getty Images) |
The Giants, backs against walls, nicked the Reds in Game 3 of the NLDS. It took 10 innings and a lot of tense baseball, but San Fran, down 0-2 coming into the night, wasn't exactly in a position to be picky ...
Hero: The Giants bullpen turned out to steal Homer Bailey's thunder. Bailey was the true star of the night, but, well, his team lost. The San Fran pen, meantime, turned in 5.0 innings of scoreless ball. Moreover, Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo combined to allow only one hit over that span. That's shutdown relief.
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Goat: Scott Rolen missed a cookie of a pitch in the bottom of the ninth (it was the kind of offering that should have been parked in the left-field seats, but Rolen hit mid-depth foul-out), and then he made a critical error in the 10th. Joaquin Arias's weak grounder took a bad hop, and Rolen bobbled it, which you can't do with a runner of Arias' speed. Buster Posey scooted home with what proved to be the winning run.
To be fair, it was Jonathan Broxton who put those runners on base and catcher Ryan Hanigan whose passed ball allowed Posey to get to third. But it was Rolen's error that put the run on the board.
Turning point: Hanigan's passed ball seemed a harbinger of something bad for the Reds. Yes, it came with two outs, but the margin for error had been too slim for too long.
It was over when: It was over when the Giants handed Sergio Romo the ball. He's blown only one save all year, and he's got a 2.20 career ERA. Rare is his slip-up.
Next: The Giants and Reds will do it again on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. EST.
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