Entering Saturday night, Reds starters were 6-1 with a 2.61 ERA in the last eight games.
Power is nice, but pitching is the key.
You have to have it. Only twice during that stretch did a Reds starter pitch fewer than six innings, helping preserve the bullpen. Just once, when Pete Harnisch surrendered three runs in five innings in Thursday's series finale at Chicago, did a starter yield more than three earned runs. The rotation has jelled exactly as the Reds had hoped. The Cincinnati Enquirer , a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper.