Harang Takes Loss, Rage at Dangerous Level, Cubs 4-2

Reds dropped their 7th consecutive last night. They're really making that August push necessary to propel them into the lower fifth of all the teams in baseball. Dusty's boys now have an identical record to the Pirates, at the bottom of the Central, and are only a game ahead of the Indians, Orioles and Padres in the standings for the second worst team in baseball. At least the Nats and their historical awfulness basically assure themselves the top pick in next year's draft.

Dusty remains optimistic. He told reporters that he is still pretty certain that Harang is going to win 20 and Willy Taveres will hit .300 with 50 bags. I think those are both realistic goals and am glad to hear that the manager stands behind his players. He also reconsidered and said that he predicts that Corey Patterson is going to merry his daughter. Everything is going to be okay for the Reds for this season and forever.

Back to last night's game. The Reds continued to be mystified by Randy Wells who went eight and gave up a single run on an Alex Gonzalez homer. Gonzalez, who didn't start due to generally terrible play, also drove in the Reds other run in the 9th with a double. Harang wasn't bad at all in picking up his 13th loss of the season. He did give up a home run to Mike Fontenot, which is unforgiveable but after that he shut down the Cubs and struck out a season high 10. Sure he stayed one inning too long, you're not going to walk Fukudome if you're not starting to wear out, but innings 3-7 were pretty solid. But, still loss. In fact he's not all that troubled with the idea of losing 20, he knows Mike Maroth and looks forward to joining him and the limited number of modern-day players who have met the milestone. The Reds, however, did have to order a new vending machine for the clubhouse. Harang gave it a piledriver to get at the snacks inside then threatened to cut anyone who got within 10 feet of his candy surplus. He made the blade in between innings by burning tape with a lighter. They don't let him have weapons, other than his fists, in the clubhouse ever since he attacked Kent Mercker last season with a throwing star. Those are things you're just going to have to deal with if you're not going to give him any offensive support.

Reds break the streak today and win every game for the rest of the season. They just need to relax and have fun out there. That's the key.