Giants slam Reds for historic road sweep

When Hunter Pence hangs up the cleats and batting gloves, he should become a motivational speaker.

The Giants needed something to spark them as they tried to do the unthinkable: Go into Cincinnati and win three straight games.

Pence’s words, apparently, did the trick. Matt Cain redeemed himself and MVP candidate Buster Posey announced his presence with a fifth inning grand slam as the Giants defeated the Reds 6-4 to advance to the National League Championship Series.

After a lousy performance with no run support in Game 1, Cain pitched well enough Thursday, and the Giants gave him more than enough runs to work with. The Giants exploded for six runs in the fifth inning, capped off by Posey’s towering grand slam.

First grand slam by a Giant in the postseason since Will Clark off Greg Maddux in 1989, and my fingers cry as I type that. #grewupacubsfan

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) October 11, 2012

So that is what a 434-foot dagger looks like.

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) October 11, 2012

The scoring started in the fifth with a Gregor Blanco single. Brandon Crawford came up and found the perfect time for his first hit of the series, cutting the tension with a triple that allowed Blanco to score standing up.

Crawford in July, when asked about his knack for getting big hits: “I get my money’s worth.”

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) October 11, 2012

After Cain grounded out to the pitcher, Angel Pagan hit a ball right at shortstop Zach Cozart, but the infielder fumbled the ball allowing Crawford to score and Pagan to reach safely.

Posey’s blast followed a Marco Scutaro walk and Pablo Sandoval single.

"I wanted to make sure I got the run in from 3rd, I told myself to see the ball. Got a pitch in a zone, good things happen" Buster Posey

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) October 11, 2012

Cain gave two runs back in the bottom of the fifth and gave up a Ryan Ludwick home run in the sixth, bringing the Reds within striking distance.

For all Giants fans, the rest of the game was a tense, stressful affair.

The unsung heroes of this comeback have to be the bullpen. While there were anxious moments, George Kontos, Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez and Santiago Casilla held the Reds scoreless for two innings and managed to hand a 6-3 lead to Sergio Romo in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Kontos gives his glove three Romo-esque punches on the way back to dugout. Has thrown 3 2/3 scoreless innings in first postseason.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) October 11, 2012

In three wins in Cincinnati, the Giants’ bullpen was nearly untouchable, allowing just two earned runs in 14-2/3 innings. That’s a collective 1.22 ERA. In those high-stress moments, the Giants relievers came up huge.

They don’t award an MVP for the NLDS, but if I had a vote, I’d give it to entire bullpen.

Romo holds back tears saying all he thought about during Bruce AB was teammates.

— Henry Schulman BLUE CHECK MARK (@hankschulman) October 11, 2012

It was a historic comeback as the Giants are the first National League team to come back from 0-2 down in the Wild Card era.

A GIANT COMEBACK! The @SFGiants are the first NL team to come back from an 0-2 deficit and are #NLCS bound! FINAL SCORE: SFGiants 6, Reds 4

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 11, 2012

The Giants now await the winner of the Washington-St. Louis series. If the Cardinals win, the Giants will host Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday. If the Nationals come back and win the series, Game 1 will be in D.C. on Sunday, with the Giants’ first home game on Wednesday night.