"Aaron Harang just missed facing his former teammates. Harang started for his new club, the San Diego Padres, the day before the Reds came to town.

"I would have liked to face them," he said. "I definitely would have."

It has nothing to do with what happened in spring training with the Reds pounding him for seven runs over two innings in a 15-5 Padre loss on March 10.

"I don't dwell on anything," he said. "Spring training is not going to affect my season. It's more for preparation. I think it was better that I faced them in spring than during the season. There is a little adrenaline rush. You want to pitch well against your old team.

"I would like to face them again."

Harang, 32, a right-hander, has gotten off to a great start with the Padres. He's 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA. He beat National League West rival Los Angeles 7-2 Sunday. He went six innings and allowed one earned run on three hits. He walked two and struck two.

In his first start, he beat the World Champion San Francisco Giants 3-1. He went six innings and allowed one earned run on six hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Harang went 5-6 with a 5.32 ERA last year with the Reds. He spent two months on the disabled list with back problems. When he came back, he was used mostly in relief. He did not make the playoff roster. And the Reds did not pick up his option.

He signed a free-agent deal with his hometown team.

Harang had some good starts in 2010. But he still wasn't at the level he was when he was winning 16 games in 2006 and '07.

"When I got over here, we looked at a lot of stuff," he said. "I had a couple of good games last year. I had a game against Houston where I went seven and gave up one run. I don't know if it was before or after I was hurt. But we looked at a couple of those games. The good games, not the bad ones. We saw such a difference mechanically from '06, '07 compared to the last year and the last couple of years.""