Pete Harnisch gave up 5 hits, 1 earned run. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

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        DENVER — The question has to be: Does this put Pete Harnisch on the trading block?

        Harnisch looked very much like the guy who won 30 games over the last two seasons in beating the Colorado Rockies 9-2 before 48,471 at Coors Field Friday night.

        Harnisch (2-5) allowed only five hits and one earned run. He pitched the first complete game of the year for the Reds. He was making his third start since returning from the disabled list after spending almost two months rehabbing his right rotator cuff.

        He threw 123 pitches, 21 trying to get the final out of the game.

        Since coming back, Harnisch is 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA. His stock isn't as high as Denny Neagle's, but starting pitching is the most sought-after thing in baseball. Harnisch, for whom the Reds have an option next season, would command a prospect or two.

Harnisch receives congratulations from Ken Griffey Jr. | ZOOM |

        “That's out of my control,” Harnisch said. “That's their decision. I would tend to think, "Yes, they're going to (try to trade me).' But if they get rid of me, they go into next year trying to fill five spots.”

        On the other hand, the Reds look like a team that could make a charge.

        They've won seven of their last 10 and are above .500 (45-44) for the first time since June 13. They've outscored the Rockies, losers of nine straight, 24-7 over the last two days.

        “One person declared it over,” Dmitri Young said. “We're professionals in here. We just want to go out and win, win, win. We're starting to put it together.”

        Harnisch is a huge part of that.

        “He was our ace last year,” Reds manager Jack McKeon said. “Everyone else followed suit. It we get decent pitching, we have a chance to win.”

Dante Bichette watches first-inning single. | ZOOM |

        “That's the hardest I've seen him throw, and I thought we were never going to get a hit off that guy,” Rockies third baseman Jeff Cirillo told Associated Press. “At Coors Field, you don't expect that.”

        The Reds offense is cranking in the light air of Coors.

        Ken Griffey Jr. got things going with a triple, his first as a Red, in the first inning. He scored when former Rockie Dante Bichette lined a single into left. The hit extended Bichette's hitting streak to eight games.

        The Reds made it 3-0 in the fourth, and hot-hitting Chris Stynes singled to lead off the fifth. Barry Larkin bunted him to second and Griffey was intentionally walked. Bichette flied out, but Sean Casey lined a double to right that scored Stynes and Griffey and made it 5-0.

        Harnisch did not allow a hit until former Red Jeffrey Hammonds led of the fifth with a single.

Sean Casey hits two-run double. | ZOOM |

        Harnisch made it to the ninth inning without throwing 100 pitches. The Reds had gone 89 games without a complete game, breaking the franchise record by nine games.

        “We were going to take him out,” McKeon said. “But he talked us out of it. He said, "Give me 15 pitches.'”

        Harnisch got two outs on four pitches. He then gave up back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases.

        Pitching coach Don Gullett went out to the mound to tell Harnisch he had one more batter and his night was through.

        Harnisch struck out Tom Goodwin on the 11th pitch of the at-bat to end it.

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