Major League Baseball News

Cards wrap up set in Cincinnati

Sep 13, 2007, 14:42 GMT

- Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Aaron Harang will take the mound this afternoon against the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.

Harang, who is 14-4 with a 3.64 ERA in 30 starts this season, had been 4-0 in five starts before going winless in his previous two outings (0-1). Harang did not factor in the outcome of a 4-3 loss to Milwaukee on Saturday, as he gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings of work.

The righty will try to get back on track versus the Cardinals and owns a 4-6 record with a 4.52 ERA in 13 starts against them.

Cincinnati handed St. Louis its sixth consecutive loss with Wednesday's 5-1 victory in the second installment of this series. Starter Bronson Arroyo pitched six solid innings and gave up just one run on six hits with five strikeouts to improve to 4-1 in his last six starts.

Edwin Encarnacion finished 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three runs batted in, while Brandon Phillips went deep for the Reds, who have won four of their last six games and are four games behind St. Louis for third place in the division standings.

As for St. Louis, Ryan Ludwick drove in the lone run and starting pitcher Anthony Reyes was saddled with the loss for yielding three runs on four hits in 3 1/3 innings of work. The Cardinals now sit four games behind Milwaukee and Chicago for the top position in the NL Central.

Kip Wells will try to pitch the Cardinals back in the win column when he takes the ball on Thursday afternoon. Wells is 6-16 with a 5.65 earned run average in 30 games (25 starts) this season and winless over his previous four appearances (0-3).

Wells last pitched on Sunday in a 6-5 loss at Arizona, surrendering just one run and two hits over four frames for the no decision. The right-hander is only 2-9 with a 4.80 ERA in 19 career games (18 starts) against the Reds.

The Cardinals are still a healthy 9-5 against the Reds in 2007, winning two of three in Cincinnati from June 29-July 1.

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