CINCINNATI (Interstat) — In a masterclass of pitching and a sudden burst of timely hitting, the San Francisco Giants salvaged the finale of their three-game series with a 3-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday at Great American Ball Park.

The game, played in 2 hours and 26 minutes before an afternoon crowd of 16,898, was a tense duel for six innings before the Giants broke through against the Reds’ bullpen in the decisive seventh.

San Francisco’s Landen Roupp and Cincinnati’s Chase Burns engaged in a brilliant pitchers’ duel, each tossing six scoreless innings. Roupp was particularly dominant, allowing just one hit—a sixth-inning single to P.J. Higgins—while walking one and striking out six. He faced minimal trouble, with his defense turning three double plays behind him to erase the few baserunners Cincinnati managed.

Burns was nearly as sharp, surrendering only two hits and a walk while fanning four. Neither starter factored in the decision, but they set the stage for the game’s pivotal inning.

The stalemate ended abruptly in the top of the seventh. Luis Arraez reached base to lead off the inning on a fielding error by Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz. After Brock Burke, who took the loss, struck out Willy Adames and Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman laced a run-scoring double into left field, plating Arraez with the game’s first run.

Jung Hoo Lee followed with an RBI single to score Chapman, and after a walk to Heliot Ramos, Casey Schmitt delivered a third consecutive two-out hit, a single to center that brought Lee home. All three runs were unearned, charged to Burke, who fell to 1-1.

The three-run outburst stood as more than enough for the Giants’ bullpen. Ryan Walker worked a perfect seventh, Keaton Winn struck out two in a clean eighth, and Erik Miller overpowered the Reds in the ninth to earn his first save of the season. Miller struck out the side, fanning pinch-hitter Dane Myers, walking Matt McLain, and then striking out Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart to end the game.

The most important part of the game was unquestionably the Giants’ two-out rally in the seventh inning. After the error extended the inning, San Francisco, which had mustered only two hits to that point, strung together three consecutive hits off Burke and Sam Moll to transform a scoreless tie into a commanding 3-0 lead. The sequence broke the spell of the pitching duel and provided the only offense needed on a day where Reds batters were held to a solitary hit.

Lee was the offensive standout for San Francisco, collecting three of the team’s six hits, including the key RBI single in the seventh. The victory improved the Giants to 7-12, snapping a two-game skid in Cincinnati after losses on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Reds, who saw their record dip to 11-8, were shut out for the first time this season.

Roupp, named the top star for San Francisco, continued his strong rebound after a rough outing on April 4. He has now logged back-to-back quality starts, lowering his ERA significantly with 12 innings of one-run ball over his last two appearances.

The result defied pregame projections. Interstat’s game simulator had predicted a 5-2 Reds victory, and its ELO system gave Cincinnati a 53.7% probability to win. Despite San Francisco being installed as a slim pregame favorite on the spread, the total runs scored of three fell well under the over/under line of 8.5.

The Giants now travel to Washington to open a three-game series with the Nationals on Friday. The Reds head to Minneapolis to begin a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins, also on Friday.