CINCINNATI (AP) ― Hardly able to get a hit, the San Francisco Giants used a misplayed grounder to prolong their NL playoff series.

Third baseman Scott Rolen’s two-out error in the 10th inning gave the Giants the go-ahead run Tuesday night in a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, who couldn’t shake 17 years of home postseason futility.

The Giants avoided a sweep in Game 3, cutting their deficit to 2-1.

Rolen, an eight-time Gold Glove winner, couldn’t come up with Joaquin Arias’ short-hop grounder, bobbled it and threw late to first.

The Giants managed only three hits against Homer Bailey and Reds relievers, but got two of them in the 10th ― along with a passed ball by Ryan Hanigan ― to pull it out. San Francisco won despite striking out 16 times.

Cincinnati finished with four hits, just one after the first inning.

Left-hander Barry Zito will pitch Game 4 on Wednesday for the Giants, who have won the last 11 times he started. The Reds have to decide whether to try ace Johnny Cueto, forced out of the opener in San Francisco on Saturday with spasms in his back and side.

The Reds haven’t won a home playoff game since 1995, the last time they reached the NL championship series. One win away from making it back there, they couldn’t beat a Giants team that has barely been able to get a hit.

Didn’t need many in this one.

Bailey made his first start at Great American Ball Park since his Sept. 28 no-hitter in Pittsburgh and allowed only one hit in seven innings, the latest dominating performance by a Reds starter. Marco Scutaro singled in the sixth for the only hit off Bailey.

Fortunately for the Giants, Bailey’s one lapse let to a run. He hit a batter, walked another and gave up a sacrifice fly by Angel Pagan in the third inning.

That was it until the 10th, with the Giants going down swinging ― the Reds set a season high for strikeouts. Closer Aroldis Chapman got a pair of strikeouts on 100 mph fastballs during a perfect ninth inning, keeping it tied at 1.

San Francisco’s one-hit wonders finally got it going against Jonathan Broxton, who gave up leadoff singles by Buster Posey ― the NL batting champion ― and Hunter Pence, who pulled his left calf on a wild swing before getting his hit.

A’s shut out Tigers

OAKLAND, California (AP) ― These Oakland Athletics never count themselves out ― down and doubted is their dogma.

Brett Anderson outdueled fellow postseason first-timer Anibal Sanchez and the upstart A’s were stellar on defense all over the diamond, avoiding another playoff sweep by Detroit by beating the Tigers 2-0 Tuesday night in their AL division series.

The A’s cut their deficit in the best-of-five matchup to 2-1.

Coco Crisp saved a likely home run by Prince Fielder with a leaping catch at the top of the center-field wall in the second ― and the A’s will play another day in this improbable season full of remarkable rallies.

Yoenis Cespedes hit an RBI single in the first inning and Seth Smith homered later. That was plenty on a night Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, Fielder and the Tigers’ high-priced offense were shut down by the low-budget A’s.

Tigers 16-game winner Max Scherzer will try to close out the series in Game 4 Wednesday night against A’s rookie A.J. Griffin. Detroit swept the A’s in the 2006 AL championship series.

Fielder was the biggest victim of Oakland’s spot-on defense, robbed three times. First by Crisp, Oakland’s most experienced player whose Game 2 blunder on Cabrera’s fly allowed two runs to score in a 5-4 loss Sunday in Detroit.