Harang prevails in battle of aces

When looking at the numbers Aaron Harang of the Cincinnati Reds has put up this season, they are the kind Cubs fans no doubt expected to see from Carlos Zambrano.

In a matchup of the two ace right-handed starters Tuesday night, it was all Harang in a 5-2 win by the Reds at Wrigley Field.

So while Zambrano staggers to the end of the season in search of consistency, Harang's 16-4 record with 2 starts remaining should earn him serious consideration in National League Cy Young voting.

"These are the fun games to pitch in," Harang said after limiting the Cubs to 2 runs on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts over 7 innings. "Zambrano is one of the top guys in the league and I was just trying to go out and give it my best."

The win improved Harang's record to 3-1 against the Cubs this season, 8-2 for his career and 4-0 at Wrigley Field.

"He's had a fantastic year," said Reds manager Pete Mackanin. "I think (he's an elite pitcher). He's our guy. I'd like to see him considered at the top of the list. We think very highly of him."

In a way, Harang could be considered the anti-Zambrano.

"He's a pleasure to be around even when he's pitching because he doesn't get overly excited," Mackanin said. "He's totally into the game, but relaxed. He knows what he has to do, and when he's not doing it, he knows what he's not doing.

"It's great for the other pitchers to see, the way he reacts during the course of the game -- very calm, cool and collected."

Unfortunately for the Cubs, they can expect to see Harang one more time, likely in the opener of the three-game series in Cincinnati on the final weekend of the season.

The Cubs now are just 6-8 against the Reds with four games still to play.

For the Cubs, the path to the National League Central title may have to go through Cincinnati when all is said and done.

"We're not going to just roll over and let anybody in," Harang said. "We want to make it interesting. We're going to play the rest of our games tough."

Staked to a 3-0 lead, Harang's only hiccup came in the fourth inning, when the Cubs scored twice on 3 singles after two were out.

The Cubs' big three of Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez went a combined 2-for-12 against Harang.

"You've got to keep the ball down here because it can fly out here just as easily as it does at Great American (Ball Park)," Harang said.

After Monday's 7-6 loss in which the Reds gave up 3 runs in the ninth, Mackanin saw Tuesday's game as important in establishing what might happen the rest of the way in games against the Cubs.

"This was very important for us to win this game after blowing the game last night," Mackanin said. "It gave the momentum to the Cubs, and when you get in a situation like that, the other team always feels it can always come back. This was important for the series to show them we can hold on."