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Ace Harang aim to help Reds pick up rare win

Apr 25, 2008 - 2:44 PM Cincinnati (9-14) at San Francisco (10-13) 10:15 pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) - The struggling Cincinnati Reds hand the ball to their ace Aaron Harang on Friday in the opener of a three-game series with the San Francisco Giants.

Cincinnati, which suffered a 5-3 loss to Houston on Thursday, is off to its worst start since 2003.

The Reds will turn to Harang (1-2, 2.83 ERA) to help them pick up just their fourth win in the last 14 games. The righthander allowed one run and four hits in eight innings, but did not factor into the decision in a 4-3 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday.

Harang should run into little resistance from a Giants team that has scored the fewest runs in the National League (70). Yet, despite its offensive shortcomings, San Francisco has won two straight.

Tim Lincecum threw 6 1/3 solid innings and Rich Aurilia homered to lead the Giants to a 1-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday. San Francisco will go for a season-high tying third straight win behind Jonathan Sanchez (1-1, 4.50).

The lefthander has gone 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his last three starts. On Sunday, Sanchez limited the St. Louis Cardinals to two hits in five innings of a 8-2 victory.