It’s been 17 years since the City of Cincinnati has seen their hometown Reds win a postseason series. Unfortunately, that streak will continue into next year’s campaign as the Cincinnati Reds allowed the Giants to win three straight games and advance to the next round of the 2012 postseason. Both pitchers, Mat Latos and Matt Caine, escaped first inning jams. Following the first, each starting pitcher basically cruised into a decisive fifth inning. That’s when disaster struck for the Reds; Giants catcher Buster Posey drove a Mat Latos pitch deep to left field (415ft) for the Giant’s third postseason grand-slam in their existence. The Giants were held scoreless the rest of the game after their colossal 5th inning of hitting. Going into the bottom of the 5th, the Reds understood the task at hand, they needed to hit and manufacture runs. Something that has been weak in the Reds’ past two games. To the surprise of many, the Reds started chipping away at the 6-0 deficit quickly. A Brandon Phillips’ double scored Ryan Hanigan and Drew Stubbs. The Reds’ offense continued to shine in the 6th when Ryan Ludwick hit a solo homerun to put the score at 6-3. Later in the inning, the Reds had runners on first and second with the tying run at the plate. Manager Dusty Baker then ordered up a double steal which eventually led to a double play by the San Francisco Giants – Jay Bruce thrown out at third and a Ryan Hanigan strikeout. After the sixth inning mistake, the Cincinnati Reds had opportunities to knot things up at six. The Reds brought the tying run up to bat in not only the seventh inning but in the eighth inning as well. Cincinnati left four runners stranded in those innings alone. In the ninth inning, the Reds had a chance to win the game after a Ryan Ludwick single scored Zach Cozart and put the tally at 6-4. Both Jay Bruce and Scott Rolen attempted and failed in driving home Ryan Ludwick and Joey Votto – the Reds’ tying runs. The Giants advance to the NLCS and will take on the winner of the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals.