Pete Harnisch got off to a rocky start when Jay Bell homered in the first. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        PHOENIX — Pete Harnisch's health may remain an issue all season. His competitive spirit, however, was at its peak Friday night.

        After allowing Jay Bell's two-run homer in the first inning, Harnisch finished his six-inning stint with five shutout innings and supported himself by stroking a tiebreaking two-run, bases-loaded single in a three-run fourth inning.

        Fortified by their Opening Day starter, who was pitching for the first time since May 4, the Reds launched a crucial seven-game trip with a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark.

        “It was a really big lift for us,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “We needed Pete to get his first win and start this series off with a win.”

        Danny Graves blanked Arizona in the ninth inning to record his 12th save.

After Harnisch advanced to second during the fourth-inning rally, SS Tony Womack throws home and ... | ZOOM |

...nails Pokey Reese to end the inning. | ZOOM |

        The Reds (38-40) ended their six-game road losing streak while improving to 3-2 in their 11-game stretch against first-place teams. Cincinnati remained 8 1/2 games behind St. Louis, a 5-4 winner over Houston, in the National League Central Division.

        The Reds also remained undefeated in seven games at B.O.B., though their perfection appeared endangered at the game's outset. Not only had the Reds lost 16 of their previous 22 games, but they were uncertain about the effectiveness of Harnisch, who spent eight weeks on the disabled list with weakness in his rotator cuff.

        Harnisch (1-4) initially conjured memories of his last outing before being sidelined, when he surrendered six runs in one-third of a woeful inning at Philadelphia. This time, four of the first five Diamondbacks reached base.

        “I think I was "feeling' things a little bit,” said Harnisch, who threw 58 strikes in 97 pitches. “I was out of my element a little bit. I hadn't been out there in a long time. It was a little weird. But I got a little more comfortable after the first inning and then I got a little more aggressive.”

        Indeed, as the game wore on, Harnisch bore a closer resemblance to the warrior who led Cincinnati with 30 victories in 1998-99. He allowed only two hits after Travis Lee's double-play grounder ended the first inning. Harnisch collected five strikeouts and extinguished a two-on, two-out threat in his sixth and final inning by retiring Danny Klassen on a comebacker.

        “I'm just glad we won the game,” said Harnisch, who surrendered five hits and issued three walks. “It's going to take a while for me to get my feet on the ground. I've told you guys that I'm going to be a more consistent pitcher two or three starts from now. I thought I was going to be a little rockier than I was tonight. But the guys made a few plays and I made a few pitches when I needed to.”

        “To be honest with you, I didn't know what we were going to get,” Reds pitching coach Don Gullett said. “But I did know we were going to get a great effort and a guy who's going to go out there and battle.”

        “We couldn't put together any runs against Pete,” said Arizona's Bell. “He kept the ball down better than I've seen him a long time. We hit the ball well, but we just hit it at people all the time.”

Aaron Boone steals second base as the throw hits him. | ZOOM |

        Fond of imitating famous major leaguers during batting practice, Harnisch also did a pretty good impersonation of a big-time hitter in the Reds' fourth inning.

        Trailing 2-1, Cincinnati rallied against Arizona starter Mike Morgan (3-2), the ex-Red. Dante Bichette, Sean Casey and Aaron Boone singled consecutively, loading the bases with one out. Eddie Taubensee's dribbler to shortstop scored Bichette with the tying run while Casey and Boone advanced.

        After Morgan intentionally walked Pokey Reese, Harnisch bounced a 2-2 pitch into left field to chase home Casey and Boone.

        “I thought I hit three pretty good ground balls tonight,” Harnisch said. “That's like a 5-for-5 night for a position player, and one of them actually went through.”

        Cincinnati added a run in the eighth inning after Bichette, who began the game with a .383 lifetime average at B.O.B., greeted reliever Matt Mantei with a single to right field. Bichette stole second base, moved to third on catcher Kelly Stinnett's wild throw and came across on Boone's single.

        Arizona scored twice in the eighth as Dennys Reyes and Graves each flung a wild pitch, hiking Cincinnati's major league-leading total to 54 and narrowing the difference to a run.

        Reyes walked Bell and surrendered Luis Gonzalez's single to put Diamondbacks on the corners with nobody out. En route to striking out Steve Finley, Reyes flung a wild pitch that scored Bell and moved Gonzalez to second.

        In came Graves, who fanned Alex Cabrera on three pitches. But Graves balked Gonzalez to third base before flinging a curveball in the dirt that skipped away from catcher Benito Santiago and gave Arizona another run.

        Cincinnati opened its scoring in the second inning. Bichette bashed a leadoff double off the right-field fence, advanced to third on Casey's groundout and scored on Boone's sacrifice fly.

Great American to name ballpark Reds 5, Diamondbacks 4 Box, runs Graves not sure of All-Star berth

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