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Reds look to keep slim division title hopes alive

Sep 29, 2006 - 12:59 PM Cincinnati (79-80) at Pittsburgh (65-94) 7:05 pm EDT

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) - The unpredictability of the National League Central Division race has has enabled the Cincinnati Reds to remain in the hunt.

Aaron Harang gets the call Friday as the Reds try to close the gap toward first place in the division race when they meet the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of their final regular-season series.

With five victories in its last seven contests, Cincinnati has moved within 2 1/2 games of St. Louis in the NL Central with three to play. The slumping Cardinals have dropped eight of their last nine, while the Houston Astros have won nine in a row and are two games in front of the Reds.

Harang (15-11, 3.83 ERA) needs nine strikeouts to move past San Diego's Jake Peavy for the National League lead. He comes off his fifth complete game of the campaign when he yielded two runs and six hits in Saturday's win over the Chicago Cubs.

Kyle Lohse gave up three hits in six innings for his fifth win of the year and added a two-run double for the the Reds in Thursday's 5-1 triumph over the Florida Marlins.

Pittsburgh has dropped its last seven games and is tied with the Cubs for the worst record in the NL Central. The Pirates have won just five of 13 against Cincinnati this year.

Zach Duke (10-14, 4.44) has thrived at home in 2006, going 9-3 with a 4.11 in 16 starts at PNC Park. He failed to pick up a decision Sunday against the San Diego Padres after allowing two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 frames.

Freddy Sanchez is four hits shy of 200 this season and is leading the league in hitting (.344) by four points over Florida's Miguel Cabrera.