Diamondbacks defeat Reds

With his National League-leading 2.19 earned-run average and his 15 quality starts in 16 appearances, there is little doubt that Dan Haren will receive an invitation to participate in the All-Star Game in St. Louis on July 14.

The only remaining question for Haren is whether NL All-Star manager Charlie Manuel will select the Arizona Diamondbacks ace to start the game for the Senior Circuit, or if the veteran skipper of the world-champion Philadelphia Phillies will award the starting assignment to reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants.

Haren presented his latest case to start the Midsummer Classic by firing a seven-inning, one-run, four-hit gem in the Diamondbacks’ 6-2 victory Tuesday night over the Cincinnati Reds. Haren, who struck out nine and walked one in the opener of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, did not allow a hit until Jay Bruce lined a single to center field with two outs in the fifth.

“Tonight, he could throw the ball anywhere he wanted,” Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch said about Haren, who improved to 7-5 on the season. “He could throw any pitch, and then also did plenty of damage with his bat. For a guy who has run into some tough luck over the first half and never let it affect the next performance, I’m very proud for him to get this win.”

Haren contributed to his own cause by hitting his fourth double of the season in the third inning and by launching his first career home run in the sixth.

“I don’t know how many (home runs) I’ll hit in my career,” said Haren, who raised his batting average to .286. “It was cool running around the bases. But pitching-wise I felt as good as I have all year. My fastball felt just like it was jumping today a little bit. In general, I threw a lot of fastballs. I threw very few breaking balls/splits. It was more fastball/cutter. I felt real good on the mound, real comfortable.”

Haren retired the first 11 batters he faced before walking Joey Votto with two outs in the fourth. The only hits allowed by Haren were the fifth-inning single by Bruce, a double by Jerry Hairston in the sixth and consecutive doubles by Laynce Nix and Ramon Hernandez with one out in the seventh. After the two-base hit by Hernandez brought home the Reds’ only run off Haren, the D-backs ace retired Bruce on a fly ball to center field and struck out pinch hitter Jonny Gomes to end the inning.

The Arizona offense pounded out 12 hits against four Cincinnati pitchers, including starter Bronson Arroyo (8-7, 5.69 ERA), who gave up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits in five and one-third innings to take the loss. Arroyo walked four and struck out two.

The Diamondbacks grabbed the lead when Mark Reynolds delivered a two-out, two-run single in the top of the third. Gerardo Parra drove home the third run of the inning with a base hit up the middle.

The D-backs extended their advantage to 6-0 in the top of the sixth when Miguel Montero connected for his fourth homer of the year (a two-run shot to right-center field) and Haren followed by swatting the next pitch into the first row of seats beyond the fence in left-center.

“I thought I hit it real good,” Haren said. “I thought I hit it at least three, four rows deep. And I was getting to first base and the guy in the front row caught the ball. I hit it about as good as I can hit one. I just got lucky, obviously, and put good wood on it. Miggy (Montero) hit the big bomb before that, which was nice to give me a nice cushion to work with.”

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The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Diamondbacks, who were swept at home by the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game weekend series which bottomed out with an error-plagued, 12-8 debacle on Sunday.

“It’s big,” Hinch said about Tuesday’s win over the Reds, “because it gets us back smiling again, gets us back excited to come back to the park tomorrow. We’ve got a chance to win the series tomorrow and respond to really a bad homestand and certainly the lowest point of the season -- the way we played on Sunday, at least for the one inning. It’s nice for us to start to gather a little bit of momentum and now tomorrow to build on that and bring it again.”

Haren’s home run provided the Diamondbacks (31-46) with a collective and timely shot of exuberance, the type of which has been missing throughout much of their last-place season.

“It was great for our dugout,” Hinch said. “It was going back-to-back, having the pitcher involved. Danny, who takes a lot of pride in his hitting, knowing he’s circling the bases and he wants to crack a smile but he doesn’t want to disrespect the opponent, it was a good moment for all of us. He was trying to put his head down and not smile. He’s such a fierce competitor. To see him take pride in that moment for him was fun.”

Haren’s All-Star Game credentials include a National League-leading WHIP ratio (walks plus hits per innings pitched) of 0.81. In addition to having a league-best ERA of 2.19, the 28-year-old Arizona right-hander also is leading the Senior Circuit by holding opponents to a collective batting average of .189. Haren has struck out 113 batters in 115 innings to rank third in the NL in strikeouts and first in innings pitched.

Haren has allowed three runs or fewer in 15 of his 16 starts this season. In 13 of those starts, he has given up two runs or fewer.

Haren has allowed a total of nine runs in his five losses, but the Diamondbacks have scored just three in those five games.

Haren’s main competition for the National League All-Star starting gig appears to be Lincecum, a 25-year-old right-hander who has an 8-2 record and a 2.37 ERA for the Giants. Lincecum leads the National League with 132 strikeouts and is ranked second in ERA. He has a 1.07 WHIP, has held opponents to a collective batting average of .224 and ranks second in the league with 114 innings pitched. Lincecum leads the Senior Circuit with two shutouts and is tied for the league lead with three complete games.

By: Tom Kessler
MLBcenter.com Arizona Diamondbacks Correspondent

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