By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

After his solo home run, Wily Mo Pena, left, is congratulated by teammate Ruben Mateo. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

PITTSBURGH - A little good news on the injury front had a big impact for the Reds Tuesday night. Aaron Harang and Ryan Freel, back from injury sabbaticals, played key roles in the Reds' 12-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates before 11,995 at PNC Park.

Freel missed two weeks with a strained right hamstring, so Miley hit him leadoff in hopes of providing a spark. Freel went 4-for-5 with a home run, three RBI, three runs and a stolen base.

"That's what he's capable of doing," Miley said. "He didn't miss a beat."

Harang, in his first outing since straining his back Sept. 5, pitched five solid innings to earn the win.

"Five solid innings after missing that much time is good," Miley said.

The game marked Dave Miley's first ejection as a big-league manager. He was tossed for arguing umpire Eric Cooper's safe call on Craig Wilson at the plate that made the score 5-4.

The players were impressed.

"The hat toss was legit," Sean Casey said of Miley's antics. "That gets you fired up."

Apparently. The Reds scored seven runs after Miley was ousted.

Harang and Freel are trying to make positive impressions for 2004. Sitting out when you're in that situation isn't easy.

"It's miserable," Freel said. "It was great to finally get a chance to do something."

If the season ended today, Harang would start 2004 in the rotation and Freel would be a key bench player.

Harang, the right-hander acquired in the Jose Guillen deal with Oakland, is 4-2 in seven starts for the Reds.

Freel, the speedster who signed as a minor-league free agent, is hitting .341 with two home runs and three RBI in his last 11 starts.

Harang gave up an RBI single to Reggie Sanders in the first. He then retired 10 in a row.

Wily Mo Pena led off the second with his fourth home run - an opposite-field shot to right-center. Pena came into the game on a 2-for-21 skid. The Reds added two more in the third.

Freel made 4-1 with a homer - his fourth - to lead off the fifth.

Craig Wilson broke Harang's string with a double to lead off the fifth, and pinch hitter J.J. Davis eventually got Wilson home with a groundout.

With a fresh bullpen, the Reds didn't push Harang. He was gone after five innings and 74 pitches. He allowed two runs on four hits and did not walk a batter.

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Freel cf	5	3	4	3	0	0	.302
Hummel 3b	5	1	2	1	0	1	.235
DJimenez 2b	5	1	3	3	1	0	.306
Casey 1b	4	0	2	1	1	0	.292
WPena lf	4	1	2	2	0	1	.211
Reith p	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000
LaRue c	4	2	1	0	0	1	.229
RMateo rf	5	1	2	1	0	1	.256
Olmedo ss	5	2	1	0	0	1	.254
Harang p	2	0	0	0	0	1	.071
Randall p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Valent ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.237
Riedling p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Stenson lf	0	1	0	1	1	0	.250
Totals	41	12	17	12	3	7

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
TRedman cf	5	1	1	0	0	0	.293
ANunez 2b	3	0	0	0	1	0	.250
Corey p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Sanchez p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Rivera ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.203
Kendall c	4	0	1	0	0	0	.322
RSanders lf	4	0	2	1	0	1	.285
Stairs 1b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.291
CWilson rf	4	2	2	0	0	0	.272
Mackowiak 3b	3	1	1	1	1	0	.259
JWilson ss	4	0	2	1	0	0	.251
OlPerez p	1	0	0	0	0	0	.179
JDavis ph	1	0	0	1	0	0	.286
NFigueroa p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Beimel p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Lincoln p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Reboulet ph-2b	1	0	0	0	0	1	.241
Totals	35	4	9	4	2	3

Cincinnati	012	010	143	-12	17	2
Pittsburgh	100	010	200	-4	9	2

E-Hummel (3), LaRue (10), Kendall (9), OlPerez (1). LOB-Cin 9, Pitt 7. 2B-DJimenez (12), LaRue (22), CWilson (15). 3B-DJimenez (2), Mackowiak (3). HR-Freel (4), off OlPerez; WPena (4), off OlPerez. RBIs-Freel 3 (9), Hummel (9), DJimenez 3 (30), Casey (72), WPena 2 (13), RMateo (18), Stenson (10), RSanders (87), Mackowiak (15), JWilson (56), JDavis (4). SB-Freel (9), TRedman (5), Kendall (8).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Harang W, 4-2	5	4	2	2	0	0	74	4.75
Randall H, 2	1	1	0	0	0	1	22	5.79
Riedling	0	3	2	2	0	0	12	5.09
PNorton H, 3	2/3	0	0	0	1	0	9	3.46
Reith S, 1	2 1/3	1	0	0	1	2	44	4.56

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
OlPerez L, 4-9	5	8	4	4	1	4	75	5.40
NFigueroa	1 2/3	1	1	1	0	1	23	3.76
Beimel	0	1	0	0	1	0	9	5.34
Lincoln	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	6	5.51
Corey	1	4	4	4	1	1	28	5.84
Sanchez	1	3	3	3	0	0	25	16.50

HBP-by Sanchez (LaRue), by Corey (Freel). WP-Harang, NFigueroa.

Umpires-Home, Eric Cooper; First, Tim Timmons; Second, Mike Reilly; Third, Bill Hohn.

T-3:16. A-11,995 (37,898).