CINCINNATI — For 27 straight innings the Cincinnati Reds were practically perfect — impeccable defense, flawless pitching and punctual offense.

That’s the equivalent of three games and should have been enough for the Reds to put away the persistent and plucky San Francisco Giants in three straight games.

But there was a problem Tuesday night in Game Three. The Reds had to play an extra inning, the 10th inning, their 28th inning of the National League Division Series.

And it all came apart in the span of three outs and when it ended the Giants owned a 2-1 victory to stay afloat in the NLDS, trailing two games to one in the best of five series.

It was 1-1 entering the 10th and the Giants owned two hits as Cincinnati’s 6-4, 300-pound Jonathan Broxton took the mound.

He promptly gave uI wasp back-to-back ground ball singles to Buster Poseky and Hunter Pence, putting runners on first and second with no outs.

THEN CAME A meltdown by two of the Reds’ best defensive players, Ryan Hanigan and third baseman Scott Rolen.

First, though, Broxton struck out Brandon Belt and Xavier Nady. But with Joaquin Arias at the plate, a Broxton pitch skittered off Hanigan’s glove for a passed ball, moving the runners to second and third.

“I was trying to go up and in and snatched it across the plate,” said Broxton. “It was a sinker in and just took off, hit him on the glove and went to the wall.”

Said Hanigan, “It ran more than I thought and just took off on me. A two-seamer that I couldn’t handle.”

Arias then topped one on a slow roll toward shortstop. Rolen, owner of eight Glove Gloves, charged the ball and tried to gather it on a short hop. But it bounced off his glove and by the time he recovered and threw Arias was across first base and Posey was across home plate on an error charged to Rolen that permitted the winning run.

“Broxton got us a ground ball and I just wasn’t able to make the play,” said Rolen. “It cost us the game. I wouldn’t play it any differently if I had it again, other than I’d try to catch it. With a guy on third that wasn’t the kind of ground ball I wanted to see.

“I wanted to be aggressive and try to make the play because I knew it was do-or-die,” Rolen added. “It was in the hole, an in-between hop and it hit my glove and didn’t stick in it. Not the outcome we wanted or the set of interviews I wanted to be doing right now.”

NEARLY OBSCURED in the unusual finish were the pitching performances of starters Homer Bailey for the Reds and Ryan Vogelsong for the Giants.

Bailey gave up one run and one hit for his seven innings, striking out 10. The Giants scoed their run without a hit in the third on hit batter, walk, sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly by Angel Pagan.

Vogelsong gave up three hits and a walk in th first inning, but only one run because of a baserunning gaffe by Brandon Phillips.

Phillips led the bottom of the first with a single. He stole second and when catchr Buster Posey bobbled the ball, Phillips bolted for third and was thrown out. Then came a walk to Zack Cozart and singles by Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce for a run. But it should have been two.

AFTER THAT THE Reds had one more hit from the second through the 10th, a slow infield roller in the third base grass by Rolen in the sixth. Jay Bruce was hit by a pitch before Rolen’s infield hit, but with to outs Hanigan grounded out.

Bailey, who threw a no-hitter in Pittsburgh two starts ago, said he had better stuff this night — and easily could have thrown another no-hitter.

“I had a good fastball again, good location, and executed every pitch we possibly could,” said Bailey. “I was more aware of the one run than the no hits because they had that run without a hit and I had to protect that 1-1 tie. And you have to tip your hat to Vogelsong because he pitched a hell of a game, too (five innings, one run, three hits).”

THERE WILL BE a Game Four Wednesday afternoon and for sure the Giants will pitch lefthander Barry Zito. And for sure the Reds don’t know who will pitch.

Johnny Cueto is fighting the dreaded sore oblique and is not available. It is likely the Reds will come back with Mat Latos on three days of rest after he stepped in Saturday in Game One to pitch four innings after Cueto departed eight pitches into the game. Or they could put Cueto on the disabled list and activate No. 5 starter Mike Leake.

The Reds would like to avoid putting Cueto on the DL because he would then be ineligible for the National League Championship Series,

“This is a very difficult thing,” said manager Dusty Baker. “But it all depends on if your ace (Cueto) can’t go. You have to go with the healthy bodies. We realize what’s at stake and that’s part of the decision — whether Cueto can go in the next series.”

First, though, the Reds must win this series and it is down to them winning one of the final two games.

FOR THE THIRD straight game Baker’s lineup and batting order was the same — Scott Rolen at third and Drew Stubbs in center, with Todd Frazier and Chris Heisey in the dugout.

When a writer asked if that would be the lineup throughout the playoffs, Baker shook his head (as he always does when asked about his lineups) and said, “Why did you have to ask that? I don’t know. It depends on if we have a day game after a night game. It depends on match-ups and who is pitching.

“I’d like to get Rolen a day off, but he is looking pretty good,” Baker added. “It will be more about giving Frazier somew time and maybe Heisey some time. But it is when we play. We’ve had off days and we haven’t had a day game after a night game (when Rolen usually rests).

“It’s tough to play different guys during the playoffs, tough to keep guys fresh,” he said. “You try to keep everybody fresh during the season with rest to get to this time of year. Then you get to this time and guys are still pretty fresh because you’ve spread out the work. When I feel it is necessary due to rest, matchups, pitchers or ballparks, then I’ll make a change.”

DESPITE THE FACT Joey Votto hasn’t hit a home run in 42 games, manager Dusty Baker knows the value of his first baseman.

“I’d say he is 95 per cent of himself,” said Baker. “Stolen bases are part of his game and going from first to third is part of the game and he is not the same doing that. But would you rather have 95 per cent of Joey Votto, if he’s not in pain, or not have Joey Votto at all? He’s a force even when he isn’t doing anything in the lineup. With his on-base percentage, he makes the pitcher throw out of the stretch. And he is going to get key hits. He’ll hit the tough pitching, something he can do like nobody else.

“When he goes a long period o time without a home run, somebody is in tjrouble. A home run is just around the corner.”

Despite the power outage, Votto has been on base nearly at close to .500 since his return and Baker said, “He is a force. When he is on base, he is on base for Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce to drive in, almost every time.”

One of Votto’s best friends is Jay Bruce, who marvels what Votto is doing after his knee surgery.

“Joey is what I call a hit-getter and if you’d ask me who might be the next guy to hit .400 I’d say, ‘Joey Votto,’” said Bruce. “He missed nearly eight weeks this year and still drew nearly 100 walks. That’s unheard of.”

BAKER REVEALED WHAT it was like and what he said in the dugout Saturday when Cueto left the game after eight pitches.

“As you get older, you learn how to deal with things better,” he said. “When Cueto left the game and guys in the dugout were shocked. And I was upset. But I put it toward a positive direction. I said, ‘We’eve done it before without Joey, we’ve done it before witout Scott Rolen. We’ve done it before without Brandon Phillips. We’ve done it before without Zack Cozart. We were without Stubbs. So let’s find a way. You wish you didn’t have to, but we did. Doesn’t make it any easier.”

BRUCE ON PLAYING right field next to center fielder Drew Stubbs: “He makes it easy for me because he covers so much ground and you almost get forgotten about. In my opinion, he is the best center fielder in baseball. And to have him next to me really helps me out.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Manager Dusty Baker on his health: “I’m getting better every day and I hope I’m looking better every day.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY II: Baker on the Game One struggle by closer Aroldis Chapman: “Confidence is not Aroldis Chapman’s problem and, to tell the truth, I don’t think he has any problems.”

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