Harnisch Helps Reds Move Atop Central Division

Few of Pete Harnisch’s victories have been as dramatic or emphatic than No. 99.

Harnisch held Pittsburgh hitless into the seventh inning, tied his career high with 12 strikeouts and wound up sharing a one-hitter as the Reds beat the Pirates, 1-0, Thursday night at Cincinnati.

Sean Casey homered off Kris Benson (10-10) with one out in the bottom of the eighth, moving the Reds back into first place in the NL Central by percentage points over Houston.

Harnisch (13-6) has inspired his team by pitching through shoulder pain for the last two months and winning nearly every time out. The right-hander hasn’t lost since June 12, winning a career-best eight consecutive decisions in a dozen starts.

And he has done it with a rotator cuff that has some fraying and may need surgery after the season.

“He’s an inspiration to the other guys when he’s not 100% physically sound and he goes out there and pitches the way he does,” Manager Jack McKeon said.

Harnisch struck out 12 for the sixth time in his career and didn’t give up a hit until Mike Benjamin led off the seventh with a single up the middle. It was the only hit he allowed in eight innings, along with a pair of walks.

Milwaukee 6, Houston 5--Kevin Barker, making his major league debut, hit a go-ahead single in the ninth inning at Houston as the Brewers stopped the Astros’ three-game winning streak.

Milwaukee, which had 17 hits, led, 5-2, before Tony Eusebio’s two-run homer in the seventh off Scott Karl. Jeff Bagwell tied the score with an RBI single in the eighth off Rocky Coppinger (2-1).

Atlanta 9, Colorado 7--Randall Simon hit a tiebreaking single in the 14th inning at Denver and the Braves pulled within half a game of first-place New York in the NL East.

Jeff Barry drove in a career-high five runs with a two-run homer and a three-run double for Colorado, which lost for the third time in 49 games when leading after eight innings.