By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

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Photo gallery from game.

In the next four days, Aaron Harang will search for a solution.

"I'm just going to work on a couple things," the Reds pitcher said, "and try to straighten everything out."

A streak of four consecutive quality outings by Reds starting pitchers ended in a 5-2 loss against the Marlins on Thursday at Great American Ball Park.

"You don't like to be that guy," Harang said.

The right-hander labored in his 4 1/3 innings Thursday, throwing 89 pitches and allowing five runs on nine hits. Florida took the lead in a four-run fifth inning.

"He pitched too deep into some counts and ran his pitch count up pretty quickly," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "He hit a wall right there in the fifth."

Harang allowed a single and three doubles in the inning.

Marlins first baseman Hee-Seop Choi's double to right field scored Miguel Cabrera and gave Florida a 3-2 lead. The next batter, catcher Mike Redmond, hit another run-scoring double.

Mike Matthews came on to pitch and immediately allowed a third consecutive RBI double to shortstop Alex Gonzalez to give the Marlins a 5-2 lead.

"It's just one of those days when you feel like you've got your good stuff," Harang said. "But when I got out there and got to throwing, I felt like I ran out of juice and there was nothing behind the ball in the fifth inning."

Since winning consecutive starts (May 11 and May 16), Harang is 0-1 with an 8.68 ERA in his past two outings. In both of those starts, the fifth inning has proved problematic; he allowed four runs with two outs against the Astros on Saturday.

One night after three Florida pitchers threw a combined one-hitter against the Reds, Brad Penny allowed two runs on six hits over eight innings.

Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a double by shortstop Barry Larkin and a single by first baseman Sean Casey.

"If you get good pitching, you've got a good chance," Larkin said. "They got great pitching the last two days."

Penny, a hard-throwing right-hander, struck out five, walked one and did not allow a baserunner past second after the third inning. He improved to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.12.

"He was throwing a 95-plus mph fastball and spotting it, cutting it and sinking it," Larkin said. "Anything and everything he wanted to do with it. He's a stud."

Marlins closer Armando Benitez pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save of the season. Benitez set a club record for consecutive innings without allowing an earned run (26 2/3).

Entering the three-game series against Florida, Cincinnati had scored 29 runs in a four-game sweep against the Astros.

The Reds scored five runs in winning their first game against the Marlins but were held to seven hits and two runs in the final two games of the series.

The Nos. 4-6 hitters in the Reds' batting order - center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., right fielder Austin Kearns and left fielder Adam Dunn - were a combined 0-for-19 in the two losses.

Florida	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
LCastillo 2b	4	0	1	0	1	0	.259
Pierre cf	4	0	1	0	1	1	.328
Lowell 3b	3	1	2	0	1	0	.339
Cabrera rf	3	1	1	0	1	1	.294
Nunez pr-rf	1	0	0	0	0	1	.229
Conine lf	4	0	1	1	0	1	.262
Choi 1b	5	2	2	1	0	0	.250
Redmond c	5	1	1	1	0	0	.291
AGonzalez ss	3	0	2	2	1	0	.217
Penny p	4	0	0	0	0	1	.074
Totals	36	5	11	5	5	5

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b	4	1	0	0	0	0	.216
Larkin ss	4	1	1	1	0	1	.289
Casey 1b	4	0	2	1	0	0	.379
Griffey Jr. cf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.241
Kearns rf	3	0	0	0	1	0	.185
Dunn lf	4	0	0	0	0	2	.259
Valentin c	3	0	0	0	0	1	.171
JCastro 3b	3	0	2	0	0	0	.286
Harang p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.050
MMatthews p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Hummel ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.214
Reith p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
PNorton p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Freel ph	1	0	1	0	0	0	.254
Totals	31	2	6	2	1	5

Florida	000	140	000	-5	11	0
Cincinnati	002	000	000	-2	6	0

LOB-Fla. 11, Cin. 4. 2B-Cabrera (11), Choi 2 (4), Redmond (7), AGonzalez (12), Larkin (7), JCastro (5). RBI-Conine (15), Choi (26), Redmond (16), AGonzalez 2 (14), Larkin (17), Casey (32). S-Harang. DP-Fla. 1.

Florida	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Penny W, 6-2	8	6	2	2	1	5	100	2.12
Benitez S, 18	1	0	0	0	0	0	10	0.33

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Harang L, 4-2	4 1/3	9	5	5	2	2	89	5.27
MMatthews	2/3	1	0	0	0	0	10	0.00
Reith	2 2/3	1	0	0	3	1	42	6.88
PNorton	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	5	4.91
RWagner	1	0	0	0	0	1	12	6.75

IBB-off Reith (Lowell) 1. HBP-by Harang (Lowell). WP-Reith. T-2:40. A-26,871 (42,271).