Harden hurls Cubs past Reds, gets 1st home day win since last August

Posted July 26, 2009 11:00 pm

By Bruce Miles

If Rich Harden needed shades Sunday, it certainly wasn't because he was afraid of the sunlight.

But maybe he'd want to put them on because the present and the immediate future look bright for the Cubs.

Harden gave up only 1 hit in 6 innings as the Cubs completed a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field, beating them 5-2.

The victory vaulted the Cubs (51-45) into first place, one-half game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central.

And guess what was so remarkable about this one? We'll let Harden give the answer.

"It was during the day, too, wasn't it?" he said.

Harden was 1-5 with a 7.38 ERA during his sunlight starts this season compared with 5-1 and 2.23 at night. Sunday's victory was his first at the Friendly Confines since May 12, a night game. He improved his season record to 7-6 overall with a 4.55 ERA.

And he was quite ready to put that day-night stuff down for an afternoon nap.

"It's pretty ridiculous," he said. "I don't have much to say (about day vs. night). It's not like they were going to try and really change the rotation around to have me start all these night games.

"They were originally planning to start me Monday, but we have a five-day rotation, and we had a day off. So it's regular rest, regular rotation. It's the way it worked out."

Harden gave up his only run in the first inning when Joey Votto connected for his 15th homer. After that he retired 16 in a row.

Cubs batters were just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and they stranded 11 runners, but they had just enough good plate appearances.

Kosuke Fukudome walked with the bases loaded in the second. Alfonso Soriano doubled to the corner in left in the third to score Milton Bradley (2 walks, 1 single), who made a nice slide around catcher Craig Tatum to elude the tag.

"A week ago I wouldn't have slid like that," Bradley said. "But I watched (Ryan) Theriot or (Mike) Fontenot, those guys, do that little hook slide at home plate and come around. That's the first time I ever did it."

In the seventh a single by Theriot and a double by Aramis Ramirez set the table for Jake Fox, who had hit three deep flyouts before that. This time he dunked an RBI single into short right.

"That's about the way it goes," Fox said. "It's funny because I squared the ball up four times today, and the only one I got a hit on was the one I hit off the end of the bat and didn't even put a good swing on."

An RBI triple by Koyie Hill (the first triple of his career) and a run-scoring single by Fukudome highlighted a 2-run eighth.

Harden, who joined last year's 97-win club in July after a trade with Oakland, likes what he sees.

"When I joined this team last year, the guys had a lot of confidence," he said. "Guys were hitting the ball. Guys were pitching well. It was a lot of fun.

"We were fighting the first half (this year). We didn't quite have that consistency and have that confidence. You can see it coming around now. Guys are starting to have more fun and really play well. It's kind of contagious. I think everybody can pick up on that and keep it going."

Bruce Miles' game tracker Don't walk: Rich Harden struck out eight without walking anybody. It was the second time he allowed no walks this year. Red alert: Reds starting pitcher Micah Owings left the game after 3 innings because of a tight right shoulder. Right fielder Chris Dickerson jammed his left shoulder trying to make a play. He will have an MRI on Monday. Mr. OBP: Cubs right fielder Milton Bradley singled, walked twice and scored twice. His on-base percentage is up to .382. Streaking: Ryan Theriot extended his hitting streak to eight games (11-for-33). Kosuke Fukudome has a nine-game hitting streak (13-for-33), as does Alfonso Soriano (16-for-36). Cubs scouting report Cubs vs. Houston Astros at Wrigley Field TV: Comcast SportsNet today: Channel 9 Tuesday-Thursday Radio: WGN 720-AM Pitching matchups: The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano (7-4) vs. Wandy Rodriguez (10-6) Monday at 7:05 p.m.; Ryan Dempster (5-5) vs. Roy Oswalt (6-4) Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.; Randy Wells (6-4) vs. Mike Hampton (6-7) Wednesday at 1:20 p.m.; Kevin Hart (2-1) vs. Russ Ortiz (3-5) Thursday at 1:20 p.m. At a glance: The Cubs are 6-4 against the Astros this season, 1-1 at Wrigley Field. Thursday's game is a makeup of a May 15 rainout. Dempster comes off the DL to pitch for the Cubs Tuesday. The Astros have put themselves into the NL Central hunt with a nice run lately. Miguel Tejada entered Sunday second in the NL in batting, at .326. He was leading in multihit games, at 41. Lance Berkman was seventh in OBP, at .407. The Astros were second in team batting, at .268 and sixth in ERA, at 4.17. Next: Florida Marlins at Land Shark Stadium, Friday-Sunday

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