By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's game

SAN DIEGO - The Reds did something special to welcome Aaron Harang to the team. They scored some runs for him.

The Reds broke out of their offensive slump in a 9-5 victory over the San Diego Padres before a crowd of 36,745 at Qualcomm Stadium.

Harang earned the win in his Reds' debut.

The Reds broke a five-game losing streak with the win. The nine runs equaled their total offensive output during the skid.

"We finally got some timely hits," Reds manager Dave Miley said.

Reggie Taylor broke it open with a grand slam in the eighth. It was fourth slam of the year for the Reds and second of Taylor's career. Taylor had broken an 0-for-26 skid the night before.

"It's nice to get a big hit like that when you've been scuffling," Taylor said. "I've been putting added pressure on myself because I'm finally getting a chance to play."

Harang, the 25-year-old right-hander obtained in the Jose Guillen trade with Oakland, was pitching in his hometown. You could tell by the cheers from his friends and family.

"I grew up about five minutes from here," Harang said. "My mom bought 45 tickets last week. It was fun. I could hear people yelling for me. It got me pumped up."

Harang acquitted himself well. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He left with a 4-1 lead. He struck out six and walked one.

"I thought he threw the ball well," Miley said. "He was trying to force the change-up early. But he settled in. He kept the ball down for the most part."

Harang made one start for Triple-A Louisville.

"That helped," he said. "I got the chinks out. I threw the ball tonight like I have been recently."

Harang retired the first seven batters he faced.

"I was pretty excited," he said. "I had people yelling at me. I kept telling myself to stay in the zone. After the first inning, I was OK."

Things got away from him just a bit over the course of three pitches in the third.

Ramon Vazquez bunted one that rolled all the way to the third base bag - staying maybe half an inch fair the whole way. Pitcher Oliver Perez chopped the next pitch to third. Juan Castro fielded but had no play.

On the next pitch, Gary Matthews Jr. hit a grounder into left on a hit-and-run to score Vazquez.

Harang got the next two hitters to fly out to avoid further damage. But the way the Reds have been going offensively, one looked like it might be enough.

San Diego left-hander Oliver Perez retired the first nine he faced - six by strikeout.

"He's got a great arm," Miley said. "We knew he'd be tough. He struck out 13 the last time out."

The Reds finally broke through for a run in the fourth, ending a 17-inning scoreless drought. But getting just one was a disappointment after the way the inning started.

D'Angelo Jimenez, Barry Larkin and Sean Casey singled to load the bases.

Brandon Larson, 0-for-his-last-8 with four strikeouts, came to the plate. He worked a walk to force in a run. From there, Jason LaRue and Ruben Mateo struck out swinging, and Juan Castro grounded out to end the inning.

The Reds put together a real rally in the sixth. Larkin and Casey started the inning with singles. Larson got Larkin home with a single to left. LaRue followed with another single to left to score Casey. Mateo got the third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to right. The Reds had a 4-1 lead.

Harang was rolling by then. He retired nine in a row before giving up back-to-back, one-out singles in the sixth. But he struck out Phil Nevin with a slider.

"That was big," Harang said.

After Harang walked Ryan Klesko to load the bases, Miley brought on left-hander Kent Mercker to face Sean Burroughs.

Mercker fell behind Burroughs 2-0. Burroughs then sliced one down the left-field line. It bounced into the Padre dugout for a ground-rule double, saving the Reds a run and the lead.

The Reds got a run back in the seventh. Jimenez and Larkin started the inning with singles. Casey got Jimenez in with his third straight hit.

Jimenez, Larkin and Casey went 8-for-13 and scored five runs.

Taylor's slam came off left-hander Mike Matthew, who was brought in after Jaret Wright allowed a single and walked two the load the bases.

"I was really happy for Reggie," Miley said.

Said Taylor: "I've got to grind through it. I'm not going to quit. My teammates have been behind me. That's made me feel good."

The Padres scored two in the eighth off Ryan Wagner.

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b	4	3	2	0	1	0	.316
Larkin ss	4	1	3	0	0	0	.283
1-Taylor pr-lf	1	1	1	4	0	0	.197
Casey 1b	5	1	3	1	0	1	.297
Larson lf-3b	4	1	2	2	1	2	.123
LaRue c	5	0	1	1	0	3	.239
RMateo rf	3	0	0	1	0	2	.233
Wagner p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Sullivan p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Heredia p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
e-Branyan ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.243
Reitsma p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.125
JCastro 3b-ss	5	1	1	0	0	2	.257
WPena cf	5	0	1	0	0	3	.172
Harang p	3	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Mercker p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Dunn rf	0	1	0	0	1	0	.214
Totals	40	9	14	9	3	15

San Diego	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Matthews lf	4	0	1	1	1	1	.274
Kotsay cf	5	1	2	0	0	0	.261
Loretta 2b	4	2	2	0	1	0	.324
Nevin rf	5	0	0	0	0	2	.237
Klesko 1b	2	1	0	0	2	1	.250
Burroughs 3b	4	0	2	3	0	0	.283
Ojeda c	4	0	1	0	0	1	.257
RVazquez ss	2	1	1	0	0	0	.263
a-Merloni ph-ss	0	0	0	1	1	0	.266
OlPerez p	2	0	1	0	0	1	.241
Linebrink p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.091
b-White ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.270
JSWright p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
MMatthews p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
JRoa p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.286
c-Hansen ph	0	0	0	0	0	0	.239
d-Buchanan ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.270
Hackman p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	34	5	10	5	5	7

Cincinnati	000	103	140	-9	14	0
San Diego	001	002	020	-5	10	0

a-walked for Vazquez in the 7th. b-struck out for Linebrink in the 7th. c-announced for Roa in the 8th. d-grounded into fielder's choice for Hansen in the 8th. e-grounded out for Heredia in the 9th.

1-ran for Larkin in the 7th.

LOB-Cincinnati 8, San Diego 8. 2B-Larson (1), Burroughs (22). HR-Taylor (4), off MMatthews. RBIs-Taylor 4 (15), Casey (61), Larson 2 (9), LaRue (40), RMateo (12), Matthews (14), Burroughs 3 (47), Merloni (9). SF-RMateo, Merloni. GIDP-Nevin.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 6 (LaRue, RMateo 2, JCastro 2, Harang); San Diego 4 (Loretta, Ojeda 2, Buchanan).

DP-Cincinnati 2 (JCastro and DJimenez), (DJimenez, JCastro and Casey).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Harang W, 1-0	5 2/3	5	3	3	1	6	92	4.76
Mercker H, 10	1/3	1	0	0	1	0	11	2.43
Wagner H, 1	1 1/3	1	2	2	3	1	32	3.27
Sullivan	1/3	1	0	0	0	0	5	3.80
Heredia H, 5	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	4	2.54
Reitsma	1	2	0	0	0	0	17	4.04

San Diego	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
OlPerez L, 4-5	6	8	4	4	1	11	103	5.05
Linebrink	1	3	1	1	0	2	27	3.33
JSWright	1/3	1	3	3	2	1	24	8.06
MMatthews	1/3	2	1	1	0	0	13	5.02
JRoa	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	4	5.91
Hackman	1	0	0	0	0	0	13	3.71

Mercker pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

Inherited runners-scored-Wagner 1-0, Sullivan 2-1, Heredia 2-0, Mercker 3-2, MMatthews 3-3, JRoa 1-0.

WP-Linebrink, JSWright 2.

Umpires-Home, Kevin Kelley; First, Jeff Nelson; Second, Tim Tschida; Third, Alfonso Marquez.

T-3:27. A-36,745 (66,307).

How the runs scored in Saturday's game between the Reds and the Padres

Padres third. Ojeda flied out to center fielder Pena. Vazquez bunt single to third. Perez infield single to third, Vazquez to second. Matthews Jr. singled to left, Vazquez scored, Perez to second. Kotsay flied out to center fielder Pena. Loretta lined out to right fielder Mateo.

1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Padres 1, Reds 0.

Reds fourth. Jimenez singled to center. Larkin singled to left, Jimenez to second. Casey singled to right, Jimenez to third, Larkin to second. Larson walked, Jimenez scored, Larkin to third, Casey to second. LaRue struck out. Mateo struck out. Castro grounded into fielder's choice, third baseman Burroughs to second baseman Loretta, Larson out.

1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on. Reds 1, Padres 1.

Reds sixth. Larkin singled to left. Casey singled to right, Larkin to second. Larson singled to center, Larkin scored, Casey to third. Larson to second. LaRue singled to left, Casey scored, Larson to third. Mateo hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Nevin, Larson scored. Castro struck out. Pena singled to left, LaRue to second. Harang grounded into fielder's choice, shortstop Vazquez to second baseman Loretta, Pena out.

3 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 4, Padres 1.

Padres sixth. Matthews Jr. flied out to left fielder Larson. Kotsay singled to center. Loretta singled to center, Kotsay to second. Nevin struck out. Klesko walked on a full count, Kotsay to third, Loretta to second. Mercker pitching. Burroughs doubled to left, Kotsay scored, Loretta scored, Klesko to third. Ojeda flied out to center fielder Pena.

2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 4, Padres 3.

Reds seventh. Linebrink pitching. Jimenez infield single to short. Larkin singled to right, Jimenez to third. Taylor pinch-running for Larkin. Casey singled to right, Jimenez scored, Taylor to second. On Linebrink's wild pitch, Taylor to third, Casey to second. Larson struck out. LaRue struck out. Mateo fouled out to catcher Ojeda.

1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 5, Padres 3.

Reds eighth. Merloni in as shortstop. Wright pitching. Castro singled to center. On Wright's wild pitch, Castro to second. On Wright's wild pitch, Castro to third. Pena struck out. Dunn walked on a full count. Jimenez walked, Dunn to second. Matthews pitching. Taylor homered to right on a 1-1 count, Castro scored, Dunn scored, Jimenez scored. Casey grounded out, second baseman Loretta to first baseman Klesko. Larson doubled to center. Roa pitching. LaRue struck out.

4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 9, Padres 3.

Padres eighth. Loretta walked on a full count. Nevin lined out to center fielder Pena. Klesko walked on a full count, Loretta to second. Burroughs singled to right, Loretta scored, Klesko to second. Sullivan pitching. Ojeda singled to center, Klesko to third, Burroughs to second. Merloni hit a sacrifice fly to left fielder Taylor, Klesko scored. Hansen pinch-hitting for Roa. Heredia pitching. Buchanan pinch-hitting for Hansen. Buchanan grounded into fielder's choice, shortstop Castro to second baseman Jimenez, Ojeda out.

2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 9, Padres 5.