Zito faced off against the Reds in Game 4 of the National League Division Series (NLDS) on October 10 and struggled, being pulled in the third inning after allowing two runs. However, the Giants went on to win 8–3. The Giants, after losing the first two games of the series, became the first team to rally from a 2–0 deficit in an NLDS, winning the series in five games. On October 19, 2012, Zito rebounded and pitched arguably the best game of his career, tossing 7 shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS), earning the win. It was his first postseason win since 2006 and according to Zito himself, was the biggest win of his career. That same day, Zito inspired the Twitter hashtag "#rallyzito", which, behind the efforts of Giants fans, was trending worldwide on the social networking site. The Giants, after trailing 3–1 in the series, prevailed in seven games.