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CINCINNATI — Pete Rose was in the house, sitting behind home plate in Great American Ball Park, and after they showed a clip on the video board of him breaking Ty Cobb's all-time hits record, fans in the vicinity of his seat gave him a standing ovation.

For Cincinnati Reds fans, it was the only thing for most of the night for which to stand and cheer because their team struggled for 10 innings Tuesday, July 22, against the mighty, mighty San Diego Padres.

Rose, though, had left the building in the 11th inning when the Reds finally won it 4-3 on a game-ending double for Jeff Keppinger, who was 0-for-5 at the time. It was the Reds' 10th walkoff win, most in the majors.

But nothing on the field reminded Rose of The Big Red Machine, and if truth be told he is probably embarrassed by a team that lost the first game of this series and needed 11 innings to win the second night against a team with the worst record in the majors and a 15-33 road record.

Back in the day, Rose's day, it always was the Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers arm-wrestling for the National League West (there was no Central) title.

San Diego starting pitcher Jake Peavy must scoff at that notion. For his career, he is 12-1 against the Dodgers and 8-0 against the Reds — getting a no-decision Tuesday when he left with a 3-3 tie. It was the first game the Reds have ever won that was started by Peavy.

"I was thinking, 'No way Keppinger goes 0-for-6," said Reds manager Dusty Baker. "After each out he makes, the odds go up that he'll get a hit."

When Keppinger was asked if he thought, "I won't go 0-for-6," he smiled and said, "To be honest, I thought about 0-for-6. I'm not all the way back. I'm off just a little bit off on each at-bat."

Then he smiled and said, "But I got the barrel on that one, got it on the big one. Think it was a change-up."

Reds starter Johnny Cueto breezed the first two innings, issuing a walk and nothing else.

But when he hit the No. 8 hitter, catcher Luke Carlin, to start the third it touched off a three-run inning. He struck out the next two, but gave up a single to Edgar Gonzalez.

On a 3-and-2 pitch, Brian Giles pulled a two-run double to right and Adrian Gonzalez singled to make it 3-0.

The Reds had a hit in each of the first four innings against Peavy, but stranded five baserunners; one reached second base.

The Reds tied it in the sixth when Paul Bako, 5-for-48 at the time with strikeouts in his first two at-bats against Peavy, bounced an 0-and-2, two-run single up the middle and pinch-hitter Joey Votto rolled a check-swing single to left.

"I had a big decision on Bako," said Baker, who thought about pinch-hitting for him, knowing he is 14-for-80 for his career against San Diego with 32 strikeouts (.175).

But catcher Javier Valentin started the night at first base and if Baker removed Bako, he had only David Ross left to catch.

"That's Freddy Krueger stuff right there — your worst nightmare worrying when you only have one catcher that something might happen to him," said Baker.

So he permitted Bako to bat, "Just going with a feeling," said Baker, "And I was in the dugout going, 'C'mon Paul, c'mon Paul.' And he came through.

After that, Pete Rose left the building.

Cueto tacked three zeroes on the board after the third, but it took him 120 pitches to get there and his evening was over after the sixth. He gave up three runs, four hits, walked three and struck out 10.

After Cueto left, the depleted bullpen held the Padres to no runs and two hits over the final five innings — without David Weathers and Francisco Cordero.

"I wasn't going to go to those two, they're overworked," said Baker. "I had one pitcher left — Todd Coffey."

Mike Lincoln pitched two innings (no runs, no hits, three strikeouts). Jeremy Affeldt, Bill Bray and Gary Majewski each pitched a scoreless inning and Majewski was the winner with his 1-2-3 11th inning with two strikeouts.

When Keppinger followed an 11th-inning single by Jay Bruce, his third hit, with the game-ending double, Rose was long gone but the Reds had a 'W' in the win column.

Today's game

Who: Padres (Maddux 3-8) at Reds (Arroyo 8-7)

When: 12:35 p.m.

Radio: WONE (980-AM), WLW (700-AM)