Giants looking to change luck in Cincinnati

ST. LOUIS -- Fortunately for the Giants, they won the most important games that they've played recently at Cincinnati: The final three games of the 2012 Division Series, each of which they captured to overcome a 2-0 deficit.

Otherwise, the Giants' visits to Cincinnati, the next stop on their current trip, have bordered on being disastrous since 2010.

San Francisco has lost 10 of its last 11 regular season games at Great American Ball Park. They dropped the final two games of a four-game series there in 2010, were swept in three-game series in 2011 and 2013 and lost two out of three in 2012.

And it's not as if turning around a few close decisions would have made a big difference. During this stretch, the Giants have lost three times by one run, once by two runs, twice by three runs -- and four times by five runs or more.

"It's more of an aspect of them having a very good team, not that it's a certain ballpark," said Giants right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, who's scheduled to start Wednesday. "They just match up well with us."

It's worth remembering that even in their must-win 2-1 decision in Game 3 of the 2012 Division Series, the Giants scored their first run without benefit of a hit and needed a passed ball and a fielding error to tally their winning run in the 10th inning. "It could have easily gone in a different direction," Vogelsong admitted.