What a relief: Reds persevere for Game 1 win

This browser does not support the video element.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Reds this season have already persevered when closer Ryan Madson was lost for the year with an elbow injury in Spring Training. When a knee injury knocked best player Joey Votto out for six weeks in July, they rallied and, yes, even prospered.

So what did Cincinnati do when ace Johnny Cueto was overtaken by back spasms two batters into his Game 1 start of the National League Division Series at AT&T Park on Saturday night?

They picked each other up and found a way through. In stunning fashion, the Reds prevented the Giants from capitalizing on their misfortune and got home runs from Brandon Phillips -- who had three hits and three RBIs in a big night -- and Jay Bruce. Then they held on to steal a 5-2 win in front of 43,492 vibrant fans and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

"We're resilient. Tonight kind of epitomized our team," Bruce said.

The victory over Giants ace Matt Cain snapped a seven-game postseason losing streak for the Reds. Coincidentally, it came on the 17th anniversary to the day when they won their previous postseason game over the Dodgers in a Game 3 sweep of the 1995 NLDS.

"It's been that long?" Phillips replied. "It feels good, shows the fans that we will be playing more games in Cincinnati. All you can do is win for the city and for your teammates. And we all have the same mission: to get the ring. And I want to keep on doing that until I get the ring."

Since 1995, when Division Series play began, the NLDS Game 1 winner has advanced to the League Championship Series 48 times (71 percent). Cincinnati already has home-field advantage, and the win puts big pressure on San Francisco to even the series Sunday.

But the 2012 NLDS could not have had a more ominous start for the Reds. To their dismay, Cueto grimaced in pain as he threw an 0-1 changeup for a strike to Marco Scutaro, only his eighth pitch of the game.

A 19-game winner in the regular season, Cueto signaled for the trainer and manager Dusty Baker, who had little choice but to pull his best pitcher from the game. Baker summoned Sam LeCure, and hoped for the best.

"You don't like to see a guy hurting, and you say, 'Oh no, what can happen again, kind of,'" Baker said. "But then you think about what happened with Joey Votto, and this is a resilient team, and they can pick each other up and go on."

Votto missed six weeks after needing left knee surgery in mid-July to repair torn cartilage. The injury, ironically, happened at AT&T Park when Votto slid into third base on June 30.

Cueto's outing was the new shortest postseason start in club history, breaking the record by Joey Jay, who lasted two-thirds of an inning while getting beat up in Game 5 of the 1961 World Series.

"When Johnny went down, I was like, 'Gosh, oh, no, we're done. Why? Why?'" Phillips said. "And we were out there talking, and we were like, 'Let's win this for Johnny.'"

And that's exactly what they did.

LeCure took over in emergency relief, worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings and was declared the winner. Then the Reds colored outside the lines and got creative, tapping probable Game 3 starter Mat Latos to take over in the third inning.

As Cueto exited, Latos did not hesitate in volunteering his services. Keep in mind that he was working on three days' rest since his final regular-season start and had thrown a 20-pitch bullpen session earlier on Saturday. Oh, and he's never pitched in relief as a Major Leaguer with 105 career starts.

"We're a family," Latos said. "Joey went down earlier in the year, and we got closer and closer. [Now] Johnny went down and as a pitching staff, we've got to get closer. We've got to get together, and we've got to pitch like we've been pitching all year."

Latos came up big with four innings of work. While allowing four hits, the only run he gave up came in the sixth inning, when Buster Posey hit a leadoff homer on the first pitch.

Familiarity was on Latos' side as he was 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in two starts vs. the Giants this season and had a 2.19 ERA over 11 career starts -- mostly as a member of the Padres.

"I'm comfortable in this ballpark, and I've pitched here for 2 1/2 years," said Latos, who was 14-4 with a 3.48 ERA in the regular season. "It wasn't any surprise, other than me pitching. I know what to expect from this ballpark. I know what to expect from this lineup that I was facing. I've had great success against them."

In a key emotional lift with one out in the third inning, Phillips slugged Cain's 1-2 curveball for a two-run homer to the left-field seats for a 2-0 lead. It ended Cain's 23 1/3-innings streak of not allowing an earned run.

"This guy is unbelievable," Baker said. "I've never had a player that can hit all over the lineup like him. That was a big, big lift to give us a home run right there."

Leading off the fourth inning, Bruce smacked a 1-0 pitch into the seats in right-center field for a three-run lead. Cain had allowed two homers in a game at San Francisco only once in the regular season, and it came against the Reds on June 29.

Cincinnati's September offensive swoon didn't carry into the postseason. The Reds batted only .225 as a team in the season's final month.

"It's great to beat a pitcher like Matt Cain and that Giants team," Bruce said. "I think it's important to get one over here. We'll get out there [tonight] and try to do the same thing."

Following Posey's homer in the sixth, Latos escaped after Gregor Blanco reached on a two-out bunt single near the mound. Sean Marshall followed with a perfect eighth inning. Jonathan Broxton worked a scoreless eighth but had to dodge danger following a one-out single and two-out walk. It ended when Blanco was called out on strikes on a 95-mph full-count fastball.

"They did a great job, and we didn't do enough today," said Blanco.

The Reds opened some breathing room with three hits and two runs in the ninth against Santiago Casilla. Phillips capped his night with a two-out RBI single. Later, a passed ball by Posey scored Xavier Paul from third base.

A save situation was taken from Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth, but it became a tense inning nonetheless. Chapman gave up a leadoff single and walked two batters, including Xavier Nady on four pitches. A two-out wild pitch to Posey scored one run before Chapman struck him out with a 100-mph fastball to end the game.

"I feel really proud about my team," Cueto said through an interpreter. "I feel proud about the pitchers. They all came in and did their job, not just them, the hitters came in and they backed me up tonight."

More from MLB.com

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
mfhoudan.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
jerusalemdispatch.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
worldhealthstory.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
techguroh.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com