Reds get to Harang in 6-4 victory over Phillies

Aaron Harang is pitching for his eighth major-league team, so the Phillies' No. 2 starter has faced more than his share of former teammates. But Cincinnati, the club he opposed Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park, is the team with which he spent the prime of his career.

Harang, who last pitched for the Reds in 2010, experienced success against Cincinnati in the past. He did not have any in this series finale, as he endured his worst start of an otherwise great season in the Phillies' 6-4 loss.

The Reds tagged Harang for a season-worst six runs (five earned), and the pitcher lasted a season-low 52/3 innings. Four non-intentional walks, another season worst, plagued his 12th outing in a Phillies uniform.

The loss raised Harang's ERA from 2.02, the eighth-best in the majors, to 2.45. He allowed more earned runs Thursday than he had in his previous 351/3 innings at home this year.

"I didn't feel as sharp," said Harang, who started five consecutive opening days for the Reds from 2006 to 2010. "I felt like I was leaving the ball up in the zone and my control wasn't as pinpoint as it had been.

"You're going to run into those situations. The guys battled back and made it interesting there in the end. They saw that I was battling and really grinding and they got a few hits in key situations. It's just one of those things. You've got to rub it off and just look forward to my next start against them."

Cincinnati's go-ahead run came on an odd play in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Todd Frazier hit a ground ball to shortstop Freddy Galvis, who threw home. Carlos Ruiz, apparently forgetting an intentional walk had made it a force play, stepped in front of the plate and tagged the base runner, pitcher Anthony DeSclafani.

Reds manager Bryan Price challenged the out call, citing a violation of the home-plate collision rule. After 4 minutes, 35 seconds of deliberation, home plate umpire Tom Hallion signaled DeSclafani was safe. Ruiz was charged with an error. A Jay Bruce double-play ball minimized the damage for Harang, but the pitcher said the delay altered the tempo and feel of the game.

"Ultimately, it's one of those rules that just, who knows what's going on with it? Nobody does," Harang said. "I mean, the guy's out by 10 feet and they claim the catcher's blocking the plate. Well, if they look, the bat was blocking the plate and the catcher is behind the bat. It didn't matter where he slid. It ended up getting changed. There's so much gray area with that rule. I mean, it's kind of crap."

Billy Hamilton broke open the game the following inning with a two-run, two-out single up the middle. Brandon Phillips, who played with Harang from 2006 to 2010, chased the pitcher from the game with a run-scoring single, one of his three hits for the night and eight for the series.

DeSclafani, a 25-year-old righthander, held the Phillies to six hits and pitched into the eighth inning. Two of the Phillies' runs came in the first, when they tallied three extra-base hits. Ben Revere tripled and scored on a Jeff Francoeur groundout. Chase Utley doubled and scored on a Maikel Franco double.

The two other runs came in the eighth. Revere smacked an RBI double and Utley drove in Cesar Hernandez with a sacrifice fly. Tony Cingrani struck out Ryan Howard to strand Revere at third. Howard has just two hits in his last 33 at-bats.

Aroldis Chapman, the Reds' flame-throwing closer, entered to pitch the bottom of the ninth a night after giving up his first home run since May 14, a game-tying, three-run shot by Franco. The rookie third baseman led off the inning, but unlike the previous two nights, did not spark a Phillies comeback with a late-inning home run. Chapman, routinely registering 100 m.p.h. with his heater, struck out the side.