Pete Harnisch gave up Kevin Brown's first career HR - and three others. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Through his career, Pete Harnisch has excelled at pitching out of trouble. He may have to do it again to keep his spot in the Reds' starting rotation.

        The vast reserve of trust Harnisch inspires among teammates and managers won't be exhausted with one bad game — such as Wednesday night's, when he matched a career high by allowing four home runs in a 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

        Reds manager Bob Boone plans on sticking with Harnisch (1-3) for the foreseeable future. But Boone will continue to watch the right-hander closely to determine whether injury or ineffectiveness has overcome him.

        “He's battled through a lot of things in his career,” said Boone, who suspects Harnisch's elbow is bothering him more than he'll admit. “I think at some point you probably do something, but I'm not at that point yet.”

Harnisch bites his lip after the second inning when he gave up Brown's HR. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        After yielding four homers for the first time since July 23, 1996, Harnisch denied he was hurt.

        “It's a rough game sometimes,” he said. “I'm not getting away with any mistakes. Every time I make a so-so pitch, it gets hit hard. That's part of the game. When you're on a roll, balls get hit in somebody's glove. Right now, they're getting hit in the alley or over the wall.”

        Boone knows Harnisch endured shoulder pain in the secon
lf of the 1999 season and still finished 16-10. He welcomed Harnisch to spring training as the staff ace, after the right-hander overcame more shoulder problems and an 0-4 start with a 9.95 ERA last year. Following nearly two months on the disabled list, Harnisch went 8-2 with a 3.49 ERA.

        Eligible for free agency after this season, Harnisch appeared primed to capitalize on his contract status by leading National League pitchers with 32 1/3 innings during spring exhibitions while opponents hit .225 against him.

LF Tom Goodwin grabs a foul popup away from a fan. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Then came elbow discomfort after his April 18 start against Milwaukee. In two starts since, Harnisch has allowed 18 hits and nine runs (seven earned) in 10 innings while striking out one batter. His ERA has risen to 6.53.

        Boone thought Harnisch's pitches had sufficient velocity but lacked “finish” — that is, late movement, the zip that has enabled the 13-year veteran to rely on throwing high fastballs to coax harmless flies.

        Nothing was harmless about the Dodgers' offense, which dropped the Reds (15-11) one game behind Chicago in the NL Central.

        Marquis Grissom homered twice off Harnisch, collecting his first on the game's first pitch. Los Angeles ace Kevin Brown (4-1) accented his seven-inning effort with his first career home run, which bounced off the top of the left-field wall with one out in the second inning. Eric Karros also homered, delivering a two-out, two-run shot in the first.

Deion Sanders pops out in the first. He went 0-for-4. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Boone considers Harnisch to be at a sort of physical crossroads: “I'm convinced that he's OK to pitch. I don't think he feels great by any means.” Asked if he thinks Harnisch feels fine enough to pitch effectively, Boone said, “Well, I'm not seeing that.”

        But, said Boone: “I don't think you panic by any means. (He) just has to keep going out until he gives you that one good one and then we don't worry about it.”

        How long will Boone wait for that turnaround?

        “I don't know,” Boone said. “I wouldn't want to put a timetable or any more pressure on him. I guess my inclination is, if he wants to battle it, I'll battle it. I'll almost let him call "Uncle' first. I'm going to give him plenty of leeway.”

Scott Sullivan is upset after giving up the Dodgers' fifth HR in the 8th. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Dodgers hitters saw nothing unusual about Harnisch.

        “He just got some balls up in the zone,” said Gary Sheffield, whose eighth-inning homer off reliever Scott Sullivan ended the scoring. “Marquis got us off to a good start, kind of rattled him, and he probably got out of his game plan a little bit.”

        Said Karros: “He really had only two bad innings and that was basically it.”

        That was no consolation for Harnisch.

        “It's not a good outing,” he said. “I'm not going to get into it any deeper than that. It was horrible.”

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