Harnisch, Reds Shutout Mets

Peter Harnisch keeps beating the New York Mets.

Harnisch improved to 6-2 against his former team, allowing six hits in seven innings Tuesday night as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Mets 4-0 for a four-game winning streak.

"I have the same stuff I've always had," said Harnisch, who has pitched 16 straight scoreless innings. "I threw my fastball pretty good in the middle innings and my slider was OK, too."

"He had a rough outing that one time because he was sick," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "But Pete's been pitching great all season."

Scott Sullivan pitched the eighth and ninth to complete the seven-hitter.

"In games like this, Pete will tell you he's struggling," Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee said. "But he did a great job and kept us in the game."

New York has lost five straight, its longest skid of the season, and has scored just 12 runs in that span.

After the loss, the players spent 10 minutes meeting behind closed doors.

"It's no secret that you play a long season," said Robin Ventura, who went 1-for-3 "You're going to have points where you struggle, but the teams that weather it out are the teams that win."

Orel Hershiser (4-5), who had won his previous two decisions, gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings.

"I think you're as frustrated as your team is good," Hershiser said. "When there's a lot of hope and a lot of talent, the level of frustration is high."

Barry Larkin went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Reds.

Harnisch gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the third when he scored from second when Michael Tucker singled to center and Brian McRae bobbled the ball for an error.

"We swung the bats pretty good," Harnisch said. "We had some runners on and we actually could have scored a couple more runs."

Larkin singled in the fourth and scored on Mike Cameron's double-play roundout, then added a run-scoring single in the fifth following an RBI double by Sean Casey.

Casey has 18 doubles, second in the league behind Houston's Craig Biggio, who has 23.

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