By John Fay
Enquirer staff writer

MILWAUKEE - Maybe Aaron Harang's right elbow was bothering him more than he let on before he went on the disabled list.

Whatever the case, he has been a different pitcher single he came off the DL.

Just ask the Milwaukee Brewers.

Reds starter Aaron Harang threw 7 2/3 innings of five-hit, shutout baseball. (AP photo)

Harang left them baffled and befuddled Friday night. He threw 7 2/3 innings of five-hit, shutout baseball to lift the Reds to a 3-0 victory before a crowd of 30,709 at Miller Park.

"He was unbelievable," closer Danny Graves said. "His velocity was the best since we got him. They were chasing his slider in the dirt."

Harang struck out 10 and walked only one. His 100th pitch of the night registered 94 mph on the scoreboard. The 7 2/3 innings were a career high. The strikeouts equaled a career high.

His best outing ever?

"Yeah, I'd say so," Harang said.

Harang was on the DL from June 4-25 with a strained ligament in his elbow.

In his three starts since coming off, he has allowed one run on 12 hits in 19 innings. He's struck out 21 and walked five. Harang's ERA before he went on the DL was 5.43. Since he has come off, it's 0.48.

"I felt it on every pitch," he said of the sore elbow.

But Harang thinks a mechanical adjustment pitching coach Don Gullett made, not the injury, is the big difference.

"He saw that I was throwing across my body," Harang said. "I'm staying back now, loading up on all my pitches."

Wily Mo Pena's two-run homer in the fifth and Ken Griffey Jr.'s RBI double in the first provided the offense.

Gabe White bailed Harang out of eighth-inning trouble. Danny Graves pitched the ninth for his 32nd save, equaling his career high.

The Reds have won the first two games of the four-game series to move past the Brewers and into third place in the National League Central. The win means the Reds (46-40) will go into the All-Star Break no worse than four games over .500.

"It's great for us (to win the first two)," Graves said. "We came in here knowing the Brewers were playing well. He knew we had to step it up. We have."

The Reds took a quick 1-0 lead for the second straight night. Barry Larkin doubled to left field in the first. Griffey followed with a double to right, and the Reds had a 1-0 lead.

Through seven innings, Harang had allowed only three singles and the Brewers had not advanced a runner to second base.

The Reds didn't have any better luck against 25-year-old left-hander Chris Capuano, one of the six players the Brewers got from Arizona in the Richie Sexson trade.

After Griffey's first-inning double, the Reds would not get another runner to second until Brandon Larson led off the fifth with a single and moved up on Harang's sacrifice.

Griffey walked to lead off the sixth. After Adam Dunn struck out, Pena sent a rocket shot out to left. It landed about 10 rows up in the seats that sit about 25 feet above left field. It was Pena's eighth of the year, and it traveled an estimated 430 feet.

"(Capuano) pitched well, except for the changeup he hung to Wily," Reds manager Dave Miley said.

That was enough of a cushion for Harang.

Harang got the first two batters out in the eighth.

Pinch hitter Chris Magruder then blooped a single into left field and moved to second in Dunn's throwing error. Scott Podsednik followed with a little roller down the first-base line. Harang tried to pick it up with his glove but couldn't. Podsednik beat it out for a hit.

"I really wanted to get through the eighth," Harang said. "I tried to do too much on that ball Podsednik hit. I tried to pick it up, tag him and see where (first baseman Tim) Hummel was all at the same time."

Harang was at 120 pitches, so left-hander White came on to face Craig Counsell. White fell behind 3-0 but got Counsell to fly out.

Graves gave up hits to Geoff Jenkins and Lyle Overbay to start the ninth. But he got a double play and a strikeout to end it.

Three solid starts

Aaron Harang has pitched well in three starts since returning from the disabled list.

Date	Opp.	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
6-26	vs. Pitt.	5	4	0	0	3	7
Sun	vs. Cle.	6	5	1	1	1	4
Fri.	vs. Mil.	7 2/3	5	0	0	1	10

Game statistics

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
DJimenez 2b	4	0	1	0	1	0	.259
Larkin ss	4	1	1	0	0	1	.292
Griffey Jr. cf	3	1	1	1	1	2	.253
Dunn lf	3	0	0	0	1	2	.260
WPena rf	4	1	1	2	0	1	.260
LaRue c	4	0	1	0	0	1	.224
Hummel 1b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.259
Larson 3b	4	0	1	0	0	2	.210
Graves p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Harang p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.037
GWhite p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JaCruz ph	1	0	1	0	0	0	.259
JCastro pr-3b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.277
Totals	33	3	7	3	3	11

Milwaukee	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Podsednik cf	4	0	1	0	0	2	.256
Counsell ss	3	0	0	0	1	1	.259
Jenkins lf	4	0	2	0	0	1	.254
Overbay 1b	4	0	2	0	0	1	.339
Grieve rf	4	0	0	0	0	1	.283
BHall 2b	4	0	1	0	0	2	.248
KGinter 3b	3	0	0	0	0	1	.256
Moeller c	2	0	0	0	0	0	.243
MErickson ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
GBennett c	0	0	0	0	0	0	.185
Capuano p	2	0	0	0	0	2	.235
Kinney p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Magruder ph	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
Wise p	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	32	0	7	0	1	11

Cincinnati	100	002	000	-3	7	1
Milwaukee	000	000	000	-0	7	0

E-Dunn (3). LOB-Cincinnati 7, Milwaukee 6. 2B-Larkin (12), Griffey Jr. (17). HR-WPena (8), off Capuano. RBIs-Griffey Jr. (60), WPena 2 (25). SB-Dunn (3). CS-BHall (5). S-Harang. GIDP-Grieve.

Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 3 (Larkin, WPena, LaRue); Milwaukee 2 (Counsell, BHall).

Runners moved up-Dunn.

DP-Cincinnati 2 (LaRue and DJimenez), (Larkin and Hummel).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Harang W, 5-2	7 2/3	5	0	0	1	10	120	4.25
GWhite H, 3	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	6	3.38
Graves S, 32	1	2	0	0	0	1	8	2.77

Milwaukee	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Capuano L, 3-5	7 1/3	6	3	3	3	9	118	3.69
Kinney	2/3	0	0	0	0	1	10	5.96
Wise	1	1	0	0	0	1	20	3.70

Inherited runners-scored-GWhite 2-0, Kinney 1-0.

WP-Kinney.

Umpires-Home, Jim Reynolds; First, Andy Fletcher; Second, Kevin Kelley; Third, Gary Cederstrom.

T-2:44. A-30,709 (41,900).