Reds play 'Survivor: Cincinnati'
Harang's gem keeps Reds in race
BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
HOUSTON - The way Aaron Harang was pitching Friday, there was little doubt the Reds would stay alive for another day.
Harang pitched his sixth complete game and took over the NL strikeout lead on the way to a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Thus, the Reds live on in National League Central contention.
"We've got one more day," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "We're alive at least one more day."
Alive, but barely. After the game, the Reds watched St. Louis beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-5.
That means the Reds' playoff possibilities come down to this: They must win their final two games against the Pirates, and Houston must lose at least one of its final two in Atlanta, and the Cardinals must lose their final two with Milwaukee and a makeup game Monday with San Francisco.
That's just to finish in a tie, but it beats the alternative.
"It's fun," said Rich Aurilia, Friday's hitting hero. "Right now, it's about us winning, but it's more about luck."
Harang wasn't lucky Friday - he was good.
Harang allowed eight hits, struck out nine and walked none.
"We'll take a win any way we can," Aurilia said. "But it was good to see him pitch so well in his final start."
The nine strikeouts moved Harang past San Diego's Jake Peavy for the NL lead with 216. He probably will become the first Red to lead the league in strikeouts since Jose Rijo in 1993.
"It still amazes me," Harang said. "I don't know how. I'm not typically a strikeout pitcher. But it's definitely something to be excited about."
Harang closes the season 16-11 with a 3.76 ERA. In addition to strikeouts, he leads the league in complete games and innings (239), although Bronson Arroyo needs only 52/3 innings to pass him today.
"(Harang) finished off a great regular season of starts," Narron said. "I don't know what to tell you. ... He pitched great."
Aurilia drove in three runs - including two with his 23rd home run of the year.
The Reds took the lead in the fourth inning. Adam Dunn snapped an 0-for-16 slump with a one-out double, and Juan Castro singled Dunn home. When Jason LaRue followed with a double, Castro tried to score from first, but second baseman Jose Castillo's throw nailed him at the plate.
That run looked large when the Pirates tied it in the bottom of the inning.
But the Reds took the lead back with a two-run rally in the fifth. Norris Hopper walked, and Aurilia followed with a home run to the deepest part of the park in left-center.
The Hopper-Aurilia combo got it done with two out in the sixth. Hopper walked and went to second on the wild pitch, and Aurilia lined one past short to get Hopper in to make it 4-1.
Harang gave up a run in the seventh to make it 4-2, but he worked a 1-2-3 eighth, striking out two.
Castro tripled for his third hit of the night in the eighth and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2.
Narron was aware that Harang needed one strikeout in the ninth to pass Peavy.
"But that had nothing to do with him going out in the ninth," Narron said.
Harang got the strikeout on the final batter, getting Ryan Doumit swinging, on his 125th pitch of the game.
With it, Harang became the Reds' first 16-game winner since Pete Harnisch in 1999. He's also the first Reds pitcher to throw back-to-back complete games since Harnisch in 2000.
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