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The Detroit Tigers showed the Minnesota Twins and the rest of the American League what they can expect all season with a 4-2 Opening Day victory.

The Tigers got timely hits, manufactured runs, unveiled the closer-by-committee experiment and as expected, got outstanding starting pitching from the ace, Justin Verlander.

Led by Prince Fielder, the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the season’s first inning and never looked back.

Take a look at my breakdown of the Tigers’ season-opening win:

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A lot of questions confronted the Philadelphia Phillies as they headed into spring training.  Would their aging stars bounce back from long stints on the disabled list and regain their effectiveness?  Would those who had avoided the DL be able to avoid Father Time for one more year?  Would youngsters come up and fill voids left by core players departing?

With Opening Day less than two weeks away, the answers to those questions are going to finally start being answered.  Some are already sharpening into focus.

This weekend, my girlfriend and I have jetted down from the New York Metro area to Clearwater, Florida, to soak in some spring matchups.  Here are some eyewitness takes on some of the team’s biggest issues after Friday’s win against the Braves, from the health of men like Ryan Howard and Chase Utley to general news and notes.

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Thanks to six innings from southpaw Wandy Rodriguez and a home run from Carlos Santana, the Dominicans were able to pull off a 2-0 victory against Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and earn a trip to San Francisco.

The game was destined to be a close one from the get-go. A pitcher’s duel was in full swing until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Santana cranked a homer to right field off of Puerto Rico’s Orlando Roman.

The Dominican Republic got some insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning as well, when catcher Francisco Peña’s single scored Erick Aybar from third base.

The closest Puerto Rico got to scoring a run was when infielder Irving Falu stole second and advanced to third on a Santana throwing error in the third inning. Falu, who replaced an injured Carlos Rivera, was thrown out at home by Aybar when Jesus Feliciano grounded into a fielder’s choice.

The Puerto Ricans almost had a rally going when Mike Aviles hit a two-out double off of Fernando Rodney in the ninth, but the big right-hander got Eddie Rosario to ground out to second to seal the deal.

The Dominican Republic will now head to San Francisco and play the Netherlands for a spot in the WBC Finals, while Puerto Rico will play defending champion Japan. While the Dominican Republic is undefeated and the easy favorite, the Dutch are not to be counted out.

Team Netherlands defeated a heavily favored Cuban squad not once, but twice this tournament, on March 8 and March 11. It may not be done slaying giants yet, so the Dominican Republic had better be ready to face the same team that beat it twice and bounced it from the 2009 WBC.

This means working around Jonathan Schoop and Andrelton Simmons, who have been the two best hitters for the Netherlands in the WBC.

Defeating Puerto Rico is something to celebrate, but the Dominican Republic’s WBC is really just beginning now that the semifinals are about to take place.

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After barely surviving the opening round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, the United States is back in action on Tuesday night against Puerto Rico to begin Pool 2 play. The game highlights a three-game schedule for Day 11.

Also in action was the Netherlands, facing Japan for seeding purposes one day after upsetting Cuba to earn a spot in the semifinals. The day’s other game features Italy and the Dominican Republic in each nation’s Pool 2 opener.

Here’s a recap of all the action on Day 11, which will be updated throughout the day as the results roll in from Miami, where the second-round games are taking place in Team USA’s group.

Japan Defeats the Netherlands, 10-6

Japan took another positive step in its quest to win a third consecutive World Baseball Classic championship by withstanding a late rally from the Netherlands. The victory secures the top seed out of Pool 1 for the Japanese squad.

The game got off to a perfect start for the Netherlands. Andrelton Simmons, who was one of the heroes in the victory over Cuba, led off with a long home run. The Atlanta Braves shortstop has been one of the tournament’s most impressive players so far.

Things got ugly in the second inning for the surprise semifinalists, though. Japan brought 12 batters the the plate, scored eight runs, chased Dutch starter David Bergman and took firm control of the contest. It was the type of hitting performance that helped Japan win the first two WBC titles.

Designated hitter Shinnosuke Abe sparked the offensive explosion. Japan’s most dangerous hitter hit two homers in the inning, a lead-off shot and a three-run blast to cap the scoring, to further justify the pre-tournament hype he received.

Japan seemed to put it on cruise control from there, getting scoreless innings of relief from Hirokazu Sawamura, Masahiro Tanaka and Takeru Imamura.

Then, in the seventh inning, the Netherlands started to mount a comeback. Three straight batters reached base to start the frame, the third being Boston Red Sox prospect Xander Bogaerts, who drove home Curt Smith. Randolph Oduber added a sacrifice fly.

The rally continued in the eighth with three more runs for the Netherlands, cutting Japan’s lead to 8-6. Smith brought home a run on a groundout while Kalian Sams and Quintin De Cuba provided RBI singles for the Dutch.

Japan finally stopped the bleeding in the bottom of the inning, however, scoring two runs to pad its lead courtesy of a Hisayoshi Chono single. The Netherlands was silenced in the ninth inning by Kazuhisa Makita, giving Japan the 10-6 win.

The Dominican Republic Uses Late Rally to Down Italy, 5-4

After Edinson Volquez walked the first three batters he faced on Tuesday and Italy jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind Chris Colabello‘s three-run home run, things didn’t look good for the Dominican Republic.

Lucky for them, the stars came out in the late innings to save the day.

Jose Reyes homered and scored two runs, Robinson Cano added a jimmy-jack and Nelson’s Cruz’s broken-bat single to right field capped a three-run rally in the seventh inning to give the Dominicans the lead for good on Tuesday in Miami Marlins Ballpark.

Volquez reminded us all just how scary he can be during the early innings. His three walks to start the game got Italy off on the right foot, and after a sacrifice fly, Colabello cleared the bases to give the Italians an early jump on one of the WBC‘s favorites to win it all.

But the Dominicans responded as the game went on, particularly by chipping away at the 4-0 lead and using their bullpen to complete shut down the Italian offense. After Volquez left after 4.1 innings, the bullpen allowed just one hit and three baserunners. Pedro Strop gets the win (his second of the WBC) while Fernando Rodney worked around a one-out walk to get a Drew Butera to ground into a double-play to end the game.

The Dominicans will now grab some momentum heading into the winner’s game of Pool 2, as they will now await the victor between Puerto Rico and the United States—scheduled to be held on Tuesday night.

USA defeats Puerto Rico, 

After Jimmy Rollins and Brandon Phillips began the game by grounding out to short, Ryan Braun got on with a two-out walk. Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer wasted no time in blasting a double to deep center, thus bringing in the first run of the game.

For five innings, that’s all Gio Gonzalez would need.

Gonzalez was superb for 5.0 innings, allowing three hits, no runs and striking out five batters in the process. The Washington Nationals ace allowed just two opponents to reach second base in that time.

Intra-division rival and New York Mets third baseman David Wright rewarded Gonzalez for his efforts.

Wright grounded into a fielders choice with the bases loaded in the third inning. In a game-defining moment, however, Wright beat out the throw to first and allowed Phillips to cross home plate and make it 2-0.

Two innings later, Wright struck again. This time, he hit a single to right field that scored Rollins and made it 3-0.

Gonzalez exited with a potential win in tact.

In the sixth inning, Irving Falu hit a one-out single. Jeremy Affeldt quickly responded by forcing Alex Rios to ground into an inning-ending double-play—a play that summed up Puerto Rico’s efforts.

This was a trend for nearly two full innings, as neither team managed to get on the scoreboard. Fortunately for the U.S., Adam Jones drove in Eric Hosmer and brought the lead to 4-0 to support this masterful pitching performance.

In the 8th inning, however, Angel Pagan cut the lead to 4-1 with an RBI groundout. Jesus Feliciano scored on the play and had many thinking that Puerto Rico would finally make their comeback.

Until Mr. Wright struck again.

With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Wright launched a Xavier Cedeno pitch over Pagan’s head. Rollins, Braun and Mauer would all score as Wright pulled up with a double.

His fifth RBI of the game gave Team USA a 7-1 lead—an advantage that they would not lose

For the top of the ninth, reigning MLB Rolaids Relief Man award winner Craig Kimbrel came on to close things out. After allowing Yadier Molina to crack a one-out single, Kimbrel put Puerto Rico away.

Phillips flips it to Rollins, Rollins throws it to Hosmer and it’s over—team USA wins.

The Americans will now play the Dominican Republic on Mar. 14. Puerto Rico will play Italy in an elimination game.

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After a disappointing 5-2 loss to Mexico (box score via MLB.com) in its World Baseball Classic opener on Friday night, Team USA needs Brandon Phillips and Giancarlo Stanton to step up in order for the team to advance.

Before the team takes on Italy on Saturday, there needs to be some adjustments made by the players. Ryan Vogelsong is slated to take the mound in the second game, but it’s the offense that needs to get ready to go.

Jimmy Rollins, Joe Mauer and David Wright all recorded multi-hit games in the opener, but the bottom third of the lineup went 0-for-10 with two walks.

Things will get better, but the team can’t wait around too long before the bats wake up. The middle of the order showed up on Friday, but it was tough getting rallies going when there was no production out of the bottom of the lineup.

It will be important for Team USA to avoid falling behind again in the first inning. The offense has the firepower to come back, but the team could use a fast start.

Phillips and Stanton are two of the game’s brightest stars, and they will be counted on to make plays as the tournament goes on.

Brandon Phillips

As the second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, he is known for his flashy play. He makes more highlight plays than anyone in the league.

He will need to continue to flash the leather in the field, but he will be called upon to get on base for the heart of the lineup. As the No. 2 hitter, he needs to set the table for Ryan Braun, Wright and Mauer.

Unfortunately for Team USA, Phillips went 0-for-4 and struck out twice in the opener. He was one of two starters who did not reach base in the game.

In the last three years, he has hit .298 in the No. 2 spot. The second baseman has a unique set of skills that combines power, average and speed. 

Phillips is at his best when he is swinging early in the count. He hit .301 last year when at-bats lasted less than two pitches, so expect him to come out swinging.

Team USA will take off when Phillips starts to get on base. There may not be a better middle of the lineup in the tournament, but they need guys on base ahead of them. Rollins got on base twice tonight, but Phillips will be the key to this lineup.

Giancarlo Stanton

When Giancarlo Stanton is the No. 7 hitter, it’s a pretty good lineup.

He was part of the bottom third of the lineup that did not have a hit, but he will get rolling at some point. After hitting .290 and smashing 37 homers last year, the 23-year-old will be an important part of the lineup.

The right fielder did draw a walk, but the team needs him to be knocking in runs. He is one of the most dangerous hitters in the world, and his power is second to none.

In his career at Chase Field, he is a .333 hitter and has four home runs in only 39 at-bats.

Like Phillips, Stanton is unreal when swinging at the first two pitches. He hit .457 last year in at-bats that were over within two pitches. 

Conclusion

Team USA needs Phillips and Stanton to go to the plate ready to swing. They are at their best early in the count, and the team can’t expect to win the tournament without them hitting well.

It’s easy to overreact to one game, especially when it’s a loss. Team USA faces Italy on Saturday and Canada on Sunday. 

The opening loss to Mexico is concerning, but it’s not the end of the world. There are still games to be played, and the lineup is working through some early hiccups. Let’s not forget that this team had to replace Mark Teixeira with Eric Hosmer late in the week.

It was a disappointing opener for Team USA, but Phillips and Stanton will be ready to lead their team to the next round. 

*All stats are from ESPN.com

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Straight up front, please save your “it’s only one game!” remonstrations. Of course it’s only one game, and of course it’s only the preseason.

Know how you know that preseason results are meaningless? The Philadelphia Eagles went 4-0 in the preseason in 2012. And you know how that turned out.

So, yeah, right, it’s ridiculous to take anything away from a preseason game in February (even one against the terrible Houston Astros) where Jimmy Rollins sat and Cole Hamels left after two strong innings. You’re right.

Yeah, but still.

If you wanted to look for concerns following the ugly 8-3 loss to the Astros, the box score is rife with them.

Consider:

—Golden boy prospect Darin Ruf went 0-for-3, but his error on a routine single that put runners on second and third (rather than first and second) was more troubling than his inability to get a hit.

The double play was no longer in order, two runners were in scoring position, and perhaps predictably the chorus of concerned citizens who think Ruf might not be able to play left field in the major leagues now have an early warning sign to point to.

—The Phillies had eight hits, and only two were for extra bases. Pete Orr’s home run was nice, but like so many Phillie home runs in 2012, it was a solo shot. Ruf, Michael Young and Ryan Howard went 0-for-9. Howard, in midseason form, struck out twice.

So, um, about that power surge in 2013…

—The Phillies had four errors. Michael Martinez’s gaffe is a non-concern since he has little-to-no shot to make the team. But Ruf‘s error is not an encouraging development.

And the other two errors were made by Ben Revere, a supposed defensive upgrade in center field, and Erik Kratz, who is supposed to be the starter at catcher for most of April while Carlos Ruiz serves out his 25-game suspension.

—The Phillies’ middle relievers got slapped around again. B.J. Rosenberg, Jeremy Horst and Justin De Fratus surrendered five earned runs on 10 hits and three walks in five innings against a pretty lousy offensive team.

Mike Adams had better be really good.

Again, right, it’s just one game. The Phillies have over a month in Florida to sort it all out.

From the looks of things, though, they’ll need to use all of it.

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Three games into the 2012 World Series, it looks like barring a complete miracle, the Series is already over. The San Francisco Giants are one game away from winning it all after beating the Detroit Tigers, 2-0.

The game ended up being a pitcher’s duel, with Ryan Vogelsong and Anibal Sanchez controlling things. The Giants were able to get just enough successive hits to allow them to win.

The grades for each team’s hitting, pitching and fielding make the two teams seem somewhat evenly matched this game, even though that was not the case. All that mattered in the end was the win, which the Giants have.

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This looks, well it looks far too easy. Justin Verlander was dominant again this postseason, going the 8 1/3 innings of three hit ball for his third victory in these playoffs, as the Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees 2-1.

With the win, the Tigers moved to within one game of a stunning sweep and their second World Series berth since 2006.

Delmon Young’s second solo-blast of the series, making it 1-0 off Phil Hughes in the fourth inning, gave Verlander all he would need for eight innings. 

Hughes would depart shortly thereafter with a back injury. And while the Yankee bullpen was solid the rest of the night (5 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, one unearned run), it ultimately did not matter because Verlander stymied New York’s offense.

As a matter of fact, the only hitter to reach base until the ninth inning was Ichiro Suzuki, who went 2 for 3 with a pair of harmless singles.  Eduardo Nunez hit a solo home-run to left field in the top of the ninth to cut the deficit to one.

Verlander only struck out three, but in many ways was more dominant against a more balanced Yankees lineup than the one he overpowered in Oakland six nights ago. Mixing his fastball with a change-up all night, the Yankee hitters simply could not square up the ball for the first eight innings. 

The insurance for Detroit came by way of MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera, whose double in the fifth plated Quintin Berry.

Berry reached to start the inning on an error by third baseman Eric Chavez, who was playing for the benched Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Nick Swisher were benched by New York manager Joe Girardi in an obvious move to get some production out of those spots in the order.

It obviously did not work.

Having extended Detroit’s starting pitchers scoreless innings streak to an incredible 30 1/3 innings before letting up a home-run to Nunez, Verlander managed to retire Brett Gardner on a tapper back towards the mound to get out number one. 

Detroit manager Jim Leyland then removed him after his 132nd and final pitch.  Phil Coke then retired Suzuki and gave up a pair of singles to Mark Teixiera and Robinson Cano (snapping his 0 for 29 slump in the postseason).

But with the tying run in scoring position, Coke bounced back and struck out Raul Ibanez on a 3-2 slider to end the game.

Ho-hum.

With the win, Detroit is in position to sweep its way into the World Series for the second time in seven years.To do so, they will have to beat Yankees ace CC Sabathia.

The Tigers will counter with Max Scherzer as they attempt to win the American League pennant.

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This title is in question form because (a) I feel like titles asking how great something is look more intriguing than statements and (b) because I’ve been alive for two decades and have followed baseball for less than one, so I am not in a position to make such a bold statement.

There have been many divisional series in MLB history, so for anyone who isn’t a baseball historian to unflinchingly say, “This is the best LDS ever,” is dangerously approaching Skip Bayless territory, which is a land full of radioactive trees and three-eyed moose last time I checked.

All this being said, it’s really hard to imagine there’s been a divisional round of baseball better than this one.

First of all, all four series went to their fifth and final game. Now, it’s not like a five-game series with evenly matched baseball teams is too unlikely to end up going the distance, but for all four of these series to do so is historic (Literally. This is first time since this LDS format began in 1995 that all four series have gone to Game 5). A baseball fan couldn’t ask for much more, even if the actual games in the series weren’t that exciting.

But these teams decided to give you more than you asked for, baseball fan. Let’s start with the Giants vs. the Reds.

This was definitely the worst of the four series, although that’s kinda like saying George Harrison is the least famous Beatle. He’s still one of the most famous musicians of the 20th century, and he was the lead guitarist for the freaking Beatles! (Speaking of which, is Harrison actually the least famous Beatle? Ringo Starr was definitely more charismatic, has a more exciting name and sang Yellow Submarine, but Harrison was a much better musician with a better post-Beatles career. I might have to conduct a survey on this…)

Only two of the games in this series were close (Games 3 and 5), although Game 5 was decided in the fifth inning. The Reds made that game interesting, to say the least, turning a 6-0 deficit into a 6-4 game in the ninth inning with the potential winning run at the plate, but it wasn’t like last night’s Nats-Cards game that saw a 6-0 lead completely evaporate.

Game 3 was actually pretty boring even though it was close the entire game and went into extra innings. The Giants won on an error, for Brooks Conrad’s sake.

Still, you had The Tim Lincecum Relief Game (Game 4) and the towering Buster Posey grand slam in Game 5 that won the game/series. Oh, and the Giants went down 0-2 and ended up winning three straight games on the road. When the worst of the four divisional series involved a historic comeback, it’s safe to say that this was one of the best divisional playoff rounds ever.

The Bay Area’s other team also nearly pulled off the Giants’ crazy feat.

Going down 0-2 after two closely contested games in Detroit, the A’s got great pitching and defensive performances in Game 3 to keep them alive, then made an improbable comeback in the ninth inning of Game 4 to force a Game 5.

It felt like the A’s were destined to complete the series comeback and win Game 5, but Justin Verlander has always loved the scene in Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight and the carriage turns back into a pumpkin.

He dominated the A’s lineup, and the Tigers avoided a Reds-like collapse.

For a series where every game seemed like it could have swung either way, Verlander made sure that the Tigers weren’t leaving Oakland without a win.

The Cardinals did have two eight-run blowout wins in Games 2 and 3, but the other three games were fantastic.

The Nationals won Game 1 by a score of 3-2, scoring 2 runs in the eighth inning.

Game 4 was similar to Game 3 in the Giants-Reds series, but instead of a game-winning run on an error, Jayson Werth hit a walk-off home run. This home run should have been the series’ defining moment, but the Cards didn’t like that plot.

That Game 5, man. And you thought the Cardinals used up all their comeback magic last postseason.

St. Louis first decided it would be fun to dig themselves a 6-0 hole that they were almost able to climb out of by scoring five unanswered runs, but the Nats dropped a boulder on the Cardinals’ arm by scoring a run in the bottom of the eighth inning (making it 7-5) and getting two outs in the top of the ninth with only one Cardinal on base.

But instead of just accepting their fate and dying alone in the cave, the Cards said, “Screw it. Arms are overrated,” and decided to cut off this troublesome limb. They loaded the bases with two straight walks, and Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma—the heroes everyone saw coming—tied the game and gave St. Louis a 9-7 lead, respectively.

Jason Motte and his beard took the role of the cast for the Cardinals’ severed arm, closing the game out in the bottom of the ninth.

“Welcome to the club, Nats fans,” said the Rangers fans.

And then there’s the Yankees-Orioles series—the best of the four.

Game 1: 7-2, New York. Five ninth-inning runs by the Yanks.

Game 2: 3-2, Baltimore.

Game 3: 3-2, New York in 12 innings (aka, the Raul Ibanez pinch-hits for A-Rod and hits the game-tying and game-winning home runs).

Game 4: 2-1, Baltimore in 13 innings.

Game 5: 3-1, New York. Complete game by CC Sabathia.

You didn’t even need to watch this series to know how great it was, but if you watched it, boy, were you rewarded.

The Giants-Reds and Tigers-A’s were the two “worst” divisional series. Think about that for second. This might not have been the best overall LDS ever, but if there’s been a better one, somebody must send me the footage of each and every game from that round ASAP.

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Homer Bailey’s near second no-hitter in a month wasn’t enough for the Cincinnati Reds as the San Francisco Giants got a much needed 2-1 win.

Bailey struck out 10 and gave up just one hit through seven innings, but Ryan Vogelsong and the Giants bullpen helped San Fran keep pace before taking the lead in the 10th inning thanks to an untimely error by veteran Scott Rolen. 

Sergio Romo pitched a perfect ninth and 10th for the Giants to pick up the win, while Jonathan Broxton was saddled with the undeserved loss.

Let’s take a closer look at this back-and-forth pitcher’s duel that featured just three total runs and seven hits in 10 innings. 

Twitter Reaction

In case you were wondering, this is not how you win a playoff series (via ESPN Stats & Info):

Through 2 innings today, Giants starting position players hitting a combined 8-61 (.131 BA) this series.

—ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 9, 2012

Of course, batting average is a stat that will tend to look bad when pitchers keep throwing near no-hitters against you (via ESPN Stats & Info):

For 2nd straight game, Reds starter will take a no-hit bid into 5th inning. Arroyo went 4 2/3 before allowing hit in Game 2.

—ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 9, 2012

In Game 2, it was Bronson Arroyo who eventually gave up just one hit. On Tuesday, it was Homer Bailey, who is clearly no stranger to no-hitters. 

Heck, even Giants fans were willing to admit how dominant Bailey looked (via Minnesota Vikings’ Geoff Schwartz):

In an effort to hopefully jinx it (which I don’t actually believe in)…Bailey is going to no-hit the Giants tonight. He’s dominating rt now

—Geoff Schwartz (@GeoffSchwartz76) October 9, 2012

MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon points out that it’s been quite a long time since someone in a Reds uniform accomplished what Bailey did on Tuesday night:

The last #reds pitcher to strikeout 6 in a row in postseason was Hod Eller in 1919 World Series. You remember him, right? Big on Twitter

—Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) October 10, 2012

But Bailey wasn’t the only dominant pitcher in this game. After Ryan Vogelsong pitched five solid innings, Jeremy Affeldt came on for two extremely effective innings of relief. Comcast SportsNet’s Andrew Baggarly thinks he pitched well enough to earn a raise:

Jeremy Affeldt is making money for himself right now.

—Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) October 10, 2012

Ah, the power of the playoffs.

After some more ridiculous heat from Aroldis Chapman, one fan pondered what it would be like to face the Reds’ specialist. ESPN’s John Buccigross came back with some very intelligent advice:

“@friedgehnic: Would love one at-bat against Chapman. Just to see what it’s like.”–wear a diaper

—John Buccigross (@Buccigross) October 10, 2012

In case you couldn’t tell by Twitter’s obsession, there were a lot of impressive pitching performances in this one. 

Grades

Ryan Vogelsong, San Francisco Giants: A-

The only thing wrong with Vogelsong’s start was his ugly first inning, as he gave up three hits, a walk and a run. Because of that long, inefficient inning, the 35-year-old was only able to last five innings (95 pitches).

Still, he responded with four no-hit innings and left the Giants in a good position to win the game, which is something that Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner couldn’t do at home. 

Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants: B+

Posey had a rough start to his night with two strikeouts in his first three plate appearances, but the batting champ singled to start off the all-important 10th inning and scored the game-winning run.

Throw in the fact that he called 10 fantastic innings behind the plate for five different pitchers, and Posey put forth an underrated game in what turned out to be a classic pitcher’s duel. 

Homer Bailey, Cincinnati Reds: A+

I don’t usually give A-pluses, but yeah, this was a downright dominant performance.

Bailey, who has been arguably the league’s best pitcher over the past month, put his home struggles behind him and put together what will likely go down as one of the best outings of this year’s playoffs. The 26-year-old went seven innings, gave up one run on just a hit and a walk, and struck out 10.

He had the Giants hitters completely off balance as he worked the entire plate and changed up speeds brilliantly. 

Scott Rolen, Cincinnati Reds: F

Boy, the Reds really hit both sides of the spectrum here.

Rolen went 1-for-4 at the plate with two strikeouts. That mediocre performance can be excused. However, he also made the error in the 10th inning that cost the Reds the game. That can’t be excused. 

What’s Next?

The Reds now lead the series two games to one. Game 4 will take place Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET in Cincy. 

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