• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Hatteberg bails out Reds in win over Diamondbacks

Jul 8, 2007 - 9:50 PM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- David Weathers cost Aaron Harang a win, but Scott Hatteberg came through to give the Cincinnati Reds a victory.

Weathers blew a save in the ninth but Hatteberg singled in the 11th inning on Sunday to lift the Reds to a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Red won their fourth straight game and completed their first sweep of the season.

"David Weathers has been outstanding," Reds interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "It happened so quick. Two quick outs, then a jam shot and a line drive, you'd never blame him. I don't care why or how we won but Scott Hatteberg is my new favorite player."

Hatteberg hit a home run in the first inning to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. The lead was 3-0 after six and Harang allowed only one run in eight innings before Weathers came on in the ninth and gave up two runs after retiring the first two batters of the frame.

Edwin Encarnacion started the 11th with a walk and stole second with one out. David Ross, who homered in the second, drew a walk and Norris Hopper hustled to avoid being doubled up, moving Encarnacion to third and bringing up Hatteberg.

Hatteberg ended the game by picking up his fourth hit of the day, an opposite-field single down the line in left.

"I watched the first few batters and noticed he was running his fastball outside. I thought if he does it, I'm going to jump on it," Hatteberg said. "Sure enough, I was able to slice it away from the leftfielder."

Kirk Saarloos (1-4) retired two batters to pick up the win for Cincinnati, which is 5-1 under interim manager Pete Mackanin.

"We're starting to play like the team I thought we wer in spring training," Hatteberg said. "Pete's a different manager with a different style. I hate blaming managers. I think it's an excuse and I hate excuses. I think managers get too much of the blame. I also think they get too much of the credit. We just need to play like we have this past week."

"Sometimes change is made for change sake," Mackanin said. "It's a wake-up call, if you have any pride in yourself."

Jose Valverde (0-3) allowed a run a hit and two walks in the 11th to take the loss.

Arizona, which has lost five straight and eight of its last nine, tied the game 3-3 in the ninth on an RBI double by Miguel Montero and a run-scoring single by Orlando Hudson.

Yusmeiro Petit struck out a career-high eight batters in his five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He was the victim of the lack of run support that has plagued Arizona during its current streak.

"It seems like we always battle back a little too late," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Our at bats early in the game were not good. It's like Ground Hog Day. We don't have good at bats and don't score early. We always come back late and lose in the end."

Harang was masterful in eight innings, allowing just Chris Young's 13th home run among the six hits he dispersed.

"We're playing loose now and everybody is contributing," Harang said. "Hopefully we can get on a roll. That's going to be the big thing for us," Harang said.