Major League Baseball

Reds' Harang wins first game since May

Published Aug. 10, 2009 12:51 a.m. ET

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Aaron Harang had been hearing it from family members and friends, a constant reminder as the losses piled up over the past two months.

They should leave him be now.

Harang ended the worst winless stretch of his career with his first victory since late May, Brandon Phillips and Adam Rosales each homered and the Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2 on Sunday.

"You think about it, but it was more my family and friends thinking about it," Harang said with a smile. "I was throwing some good games and hadn't been getting much run support."


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The lowly Reds - led by former San Francisco skipper Dusty Baker - had to feel pretty good about themselves after taking this series, in which they won both games started by Giants All-Stars Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Cincinnati won its first series since June 30-July 2 against Arizona.

Entering the weekend, the Reds had won only four games since the All-Star break and were mired in an eight-game road losing streak.

"Boy, it's been a long time for Aaron. It feels great for him," Baker said. "Sometimes when you don't have a victory for a long time, you wonder, 'Am I every going to win again?"'

The Giants, who had won six straight home series, fell into a tie with Colorado for the NL wild card lead after the Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 11-5 at Coors Field. San Francisco dropped only its third series of the year at the club's waterfront ballpark.

"We've played so well all year, and, you know, a couple of hiccups here," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "The way we played this series, that's going to happen. We just have to put this one behind us. We have a big series in front of us."

That starts Monday night against the archrival and NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Phillips hit a two-out solo homer in the first off Cain to put the Reds up early, then they built on that cushion with Rosales' two-run homer in a three-run fourth. Rosales also singled twice for a career-best three hits.

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