Wednesday, June 17, 1998

BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Reds pitcher Pete Harnisch is all smiles after his broken-bat single as he talks with first base coach Ron Oester. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

This has been happening a lot lately. Some undistinguished pitcher completely shuts down the Reds' offense.

Tuesday it was Arizona's Omar Daal, who threw his first career shutout and notched a career-high and club-record nine strikeouts as the expansion Diamondbacks beat the Reds 5-1 at Cinergy Field. Cincinnati didn't score until the bottom of the ninth.

Reds manager Jack McKeon wasn't impressed with either Daal or his team.

"We've given these guys a lot of chances to get records," McKeon said. "We've got to do a better job of hitting that guy. He didn't get us out, we got ourselves out. He kept throwing those fastballs in the dirt and we kept swinging at 'em."

It was another typical Reds game. Starting pitcher Pete Harnisch, subject of recent trade interest, pitched a solid game, but the Reds' offense sputtered and three defensive blunders led to three extra Arizona runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

"There's not much to say," McKeon said.

Harnisch (6-2) lost for the first time in five starts. Though he surrendered only two runs in seven innings, he didn't feel good about his outing.

"My stuff wasn't good, it was the worst warm-up I've had all year. I was laboring, fighting myself the whole way," he said. "I was really mad at myself for that walk."

That walk came to leadoff man Tony Batista in the sixth. David Dellucci followed with an RBI triple for a 2-0 Diamondbacks lead. The Reds didn't score until Chris Stynes' RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, but that only made it 5-1.