Game 81: 2nd Place? What? I Don't Understand.

West Coast Woes. To Second Place We Goes.

Reds          1   3   1    (44-37)
Dodgers     4   6   1    (46-37)

By Ryan Bramwell
Yes, it happened. After last night's game the Reds slid down from first place in the NL Central for the first time since May 24.  And it was former, long-time Red, Aaron Harang, who held our offense in check.  When I say "in check," I mean it.  Harang allowed one run on just three hits thru seven strong innings of work.  He threw 84 pitches, 54 of which were strikes.  Harang struck out five Reds batters and walked only one.  The Redleg offense just had one of those nights where not only could they not get things going, they couldn't even seem to get on base. Mike Leake had a bad first inning, I'll admit that.  But he was more than solid from that point on.  Leake had a quality start. 7 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 K, 0 BB.  I will take that stat line from any of our starters any day of the week, fellas.  The unearned run that Mike inherited came off a Zack Cozart throwing error which I'll let slide this once because, after all, he was beaned in the head yesterday. I think maybe he was having spells of double vision on the field...at least that is what I'll argue.  Ok, let's break down the game, for what it's worth:

• Joey Votto continued on his pace to break the all time record for doubles in a season.  He tagged his 34th.  Oddly, it was the only time he reached base all night.  I shouldn't complain.  I just get so used to seeing him on base ALL. THE. TIME.
• Drew Stubbs is currently doing his best impersonation of a baseball player who wants to be the exact opposite of Joey Votto.  He went 0-4 last night and has gone 0-for-28 in what some might call a bit of a slump.  Stubbs is batting .214 now.  He typically bats second in Dusty's lineup.  His on-base-percentage is .289.  I'm pretty sure that you want guys to get on base before your best player comes to bat. 
• As Stubbs heads down toward the Mendoza Line, Devin Mesoraco continues to climb his way up from under it.  The catcher of the future hit a bomb last night, his 5th HR and 13th RBI.  It was really the only blip in Aaron Harang's 7 innings of pitching.  Mesoraco is now batting .212/.297/.695 in 113 AB's this season.
• "Cozy" Cozart was the only other Red with a hit on the night. He's batting .250/.297/.698.  Pretty good for a rookie.  Pretty bad for a leadoff guy.
• Bill Bray has continued to look terrible in his return to this team.  He pitched to two batters.  He walked them both, one of which forced in a run.  He didn't record a single out.  Can we bring J.J. Hoover back, please?

Our Boy: Aaron Harang.  A.K.A. "Harangatang"

That was the kind of performance the good ol' "Harangatang" used to put in night-in and night-out back in Cincinnati for the good guys.  Back when the good guys honestly weren't that good at all.  Harang was our underrated ace and workhorse.  If the Reds were capable of winning 90+ games back when they had Aaron, then he may very well have posted a couple of 20-win seasons and certainly be more recognized today by the general baseball public.  Alas, he was not that fortunate while in his prime.  He had some of the worst run support Reds fans can remember when he was on the mound.  I would not go as far as to say he was as unlucky as say Mario Soto in the 80's (Who was one of the greatest pitchers the Reds ever had during one of the worst decades in the franchise's history). But Aaron should certainly be remembered as the only constant and reliable source the Reds had on the mound from 2005-2007.  Let's take a look and see for ourselves, shall we? 

• 2005 - Harang went 11-13, 3.83 ERA, 163 K's, 1 Complete Game, in 211.2 IP. The Reds finished 5th in the Central at 73-89.
• 2006 - Harang went 16-11, 3.76 ERA, 216 K's, 6 Complete Games, 2 Shutouts, in 234.1 IP. The Reds were better (Arroyo was added to the rotation as well) but still finished 3rd in the division at 80-82.
• 2007 - Harang went 16-6, 3.73 ERA, 218 K's, 2 Complete Games, 1 Shoutout, in 231.2 IP. The Reds finished 5th at 72-90.

Despite those two stellar seasons in '06 and '07, Harang wasn't garnished with any major awards.  He led the league in strikeouts and complete games in 2006 and was 2nd in strikeouts in 2007.  He led the league in wins in 2006 and had the best K/BB ratio in 2007.  It truly is a shame that his recognition was as minimal as it was around the league during that time. 

Like most Redleg fans, I was happy to see Aaron have a good season in San Diego and return to form after his last couple of seasons in the Queen City. PETCO Park is a great place for any pitcher to regain confidence being the pitcher's delight that it is.  It didn't hurt that Aaron was born in San Diego, went to high school there, and attended college at SDSU.  So, needless to say, the Reds sent him home to get his groove back.  And he did. 

After going 18-38 in 74 starts over his last three seasons with the Reds (2008-2010), Harang had the comeback performance he so desperately needed to have in San Diego.  Harang went 14-7 with a 3.64 ERA in 28 starts and 170.2 IP.  His most recent move to the Dodgers doesn't seem to have affected his continued comeback either.  Currently, Aaron is 6-5 with a 3.51 ERA in 17 starts and an even 100 IP.  Aaron's strikeout numbers have dropped a bit and his K/BB ratio isn't nearly what it was in his heyday with the Reds.  But even so, Harang is back.  And we should all be happy for him.  Even if he did just beat us last night.