when they offered that deal. I went with my heart there." However, he was placed in the bullpen, where he stayed for the entire year. He won his first game as a Red when the Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6–5 on April 2. He made the three hundredth appearance of his career on May 2 in a 2–0 loss to the Atlanta Braves. His only other decision of the year came on September 3 when he was the losing pitcher in a 6–5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Affeldt finished the 2008 season with a 3.33 ERA in seventy–four games. He was also one of only five NL relievers to pitch seventy-five innings and average one strikeout per inning, along with Joel Hanrahan, Aaron Heilman, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Carlos Mármol. Following the season, Affeldt again became a free agent. San Francisco Giants (2009–2015) 2009 On November 17, 2008, Affeldt signed a two–year deal with the San Francisco Giants. He said of signing with them, "With that starting rotation, the bullpen won't get burned out." Affeldt immediately began having a career year with the Giants. He was used on Opening Day against the Milwaukee Brewers, and he pitched a scoreless inning in the Giants' 10–6 win. On April 12, he entered a game against the Padres with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Affeldt got Brian Giles to ground into a double play to end the inning, but he gave up two runs (one earned) in the seventh as the Padres won 6–1. From May 8 through July 24, Affeldt had a twenty–eight inning scoreless streak. During the streak, on May 15, he struck out a season–high four batters in an 8–6 loss to the Mets. On May 31, he entered a game against St. Louis with runners on first and third and Albert Pujols on deck in the eighth, and he struck out Joe Thurston to end the inning and help the Giants win 5–3. The streak did not end until July 28, when Brandon Medders allowed one of Affeldt's runners to score in a game against Pittsburgh. On August 2, with runners on first and second with one out in the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies, he retired Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to help the Giants win 7–3. He won the final game of the season against San Diego by pitching two