Reds make it 2 straight over Giants with 9-0 blowout

The Big Red Machine of the 1970s won two World Series on the strength of their offense. If this year’s Reds are to continue their run through this postseason, it’ll be via pitching like Arroyo’s Sunday-night gem. Arroyo’s game will be long remembered by Reds fans, as will these other outstanding Cincinnati postseason pitching performances:

October 12, 1990, NLCS Game 6: Danny Jackson, who had struggled through an injury-plagued regular season, gave up just one hit in six innings -- an RBI double to Carmelo Martinez -- and two of the three Nasty Boys of the Reds bullpen, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers, finished up a 2-1 win that sent the Reds to the World Series.

In the two games, though, the Giants scored the grand total of two runs.

In Game 1, it was a squadron of relief pitchers who turned the Brobdingnagians into Lilliputians. With only two runs on the board, it really wouldn’t have mattered who pitched for them.

Tim Lincecum pitched two innings of relief for the Giants in Game 2. They were scoreless innings, and the crowd responded with boisterous cheers. Everyone was jazzed, and the fire was back.

Then the Giants were retired on .5 pitches in both of the innings that followed Lincecum. Then Jose Mijares came in and allowed a single, a walk, and a double, putting the Giants down 6-0 in a game in which they’ve had two runners.

Madison Bumgarner was a legitimate MVP candidate this season -- some might even call him not making the game “a snub.” But he’s been pretty spotty in the second half of the year, with a 5.47 ERA in September. His arm slot has dropped, and he’s looked tired.

After opening the game with a 1-2-3 inning, including a strikeout of Joey Votto, Bumgarner started to regress. He allowed a solo homer in the second, and in the fourth, he gave up three runs.

Bronson Arroyo probably didn’t escape from Cuba and sign with the Marlins, while his half-brother Orlando went on to success with the New York Yankees. Probably. But he pitches like Livan Hernandez. At least, the Livan from 10 years ago, not the mop-up man currently with the Braves. Command, control, slow dookie, and change-ups that make the slow fastballs seem fast. It’s kind of impressive.

The Giants are impressed. Through the first three innings, Arroyo hasn’t allowed a runner. The first two balls of the game were crushed, but right out outfielders. Since then, Arroyo has pitched much better, with the last three outs coming by way of the strikeout.

This entire offseason, I was terrified the Giants would sign Ryan Ludwick. He seemed so Brian Sabean, or at least the stereotype that used to fit Brian Sabean. Ludwick couldn’t field, and his hitting was an urban legend from 2008.

In the NLDS, he has two homers and a diving catch. This, after a fantastic season as a hitter. Okay, then.

Well, this is boring. Just like the Cincinnati Reds, the San Francisco Giants are sticking with the same lineup they had in Game 1. With the Reds unlikely to start a lefty -- unless Johnny Cueto can’t go again this series -- this is probably going to be the default lineup for the rest of the series:

1. Angel Pagan# - CF

2. Marco Scutaro - 2B

3. Pablo Sandoval# - 3B

4. Buster Posey - C

5. Hunter Pence - RF

6. Brandon Belt* - 1B

7. Gregor Blanco* - LF

8. Brandon Crawford* - SS

9. Madison Bumgarner - LHP

Now, the Reds will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead heading back to Cincinnati, while the Giants will look to even up the series at a game apiece before looking to do what the Reds did to them by stealing one on the road.

Arroyo has never won a postseason game and has never won a game in San Francisco. Arroyo was 12-10 with a 3.74 ERA during the regular season.