Ortiz: Reds to rely on bullpen to win series

• Johnny Cueto starts Game 1 for the Reds
• The Reds have four starters who won at least 12 games
• The Giants are among the majors' best at putting the ball in play

The NL Division Series: San Francisco Giants vs. Cincinnati Reds

The Case for the Reds: Cincinnati can match the Giants' vaunted rotation pitch for pitch and then throw the game's best bullpen at them. In Game 1 starter Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, Mat Latos and Homer Bailey, the Reds have four starters who won at least 12 games, topped 200 innings pitched and had ERAs under 3.75. Cincinnati also has a more explosive offense, ranking third in the NL with 172 home runs. The Giants' 103 were the fewest in the majors, although some of that disparity was due to the differences in their home ballparks.

The Case for the Giants:

Even without Melky Cabrera, San Francisco trots out a more-than-respectable offense that kicked into gear in the second half, when the Giants averaged five runs a game behind Buster Posey's hot bat. That's very healthy run support for a club that went 75-20 when scoring at least four. The Giants are among the majors' best at putting the ball in play – they struck out 1,097 times, second fewest in the NL – and excel at what manager Bruce Bochy calls "keeping the line moving.'' Oh, and that pitching staff may not be as good as two years ago, but it still boasts a horse in Matt Cain and another 16-game winner in Madison Bumgarner.

The Swing Game: The Game 3 matchup of Mat Latos and probably Tim Lincecum, although Bochy has not announced his starter for that game yet, could well decide the series. Latos has owned the Giants going back to his days with the San Diego Padres, posting a 2.19 ERA in 11 career starts against them and beating them twice with an 0.56 ERA this year. Lincecum did not face the Reds in 2012. In his only career start at Great American Ball Park, he allowed five earned runs in six innings.

Player to watch: Joey Votto. The 2010 NL MVP returned from a knee injury on Sept. 5 and the Reds' offense immediately nosedived. Huh? It hardly makes sense, but Cincinnati scored by far the fewest runs in the NL in September, an average of three a game, after averaging 4.7 in August without Votto. The star first baseman hasn't homered since coming back, and manager Dusty Baker said he's still trying to find his stroke. "Joey might be setting you guys up,'' Baker told reporters. Hmm.

The Verdict: The Reds have a decided advantage in the bullpen, with flame throwing closer Aroldis Chapman complemented in the late innings by Jonathan Broxton and lefty Sean Marshall. However, the starting staffs are comparable and the Giants have a more efficient offense. In such a close matchup, the home field edge could prove pivotal, especially for a team like the Reds, whose 50-31 home record tied for best in the NL. Therefore, Cincinnati in five.