" It might be time for the Reds to hand the ball to someone else on Opening Day.

Right-hander Aaron Harang, making his fifth straight Opening Day start, lost for the third straight time and saw his record in season openers fall to 1-4 Monday after allowing four runs in five innings in the Reds' 11-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park.

Harang started the game with a rush, striking out the first two hitters he faced and then jumped ahead of Albert Pujols with a 1-2 count.

But on the next pitch the reigning National League Most Valuable Player took advantage of a fastball up and over the plate and drilled it over the left-center field fence.

Before the Reds could bat for the first time in 2010, they faced a 1-0 deficit.

"With (Pujols), the more careful you're trying to be, the more likely you are to make a mistake," Harang said. "With him, you've got to go out and let it fly and give it

Everything you've got. If he beats you, he beats you."

For Harang, once the ace of the Reds' pitching staff, losing has become a habit. He has now lost 11 of his last 12 decisions dating to last season. He was 12-31 over the past two seasons heading into 2010.

Before the game, general manager Walt Jocketty and several of the Reds players talked bravely about contending in the National League Central this season after nine straight losing seasons.

But that's not likely to happen if Harang can't deliver more than the six victories he has produced in each of the past two years.

Harang finished spring training with a whopping 9.88 earned run average, raising concerns about whether he would be able to stage a comeback. But he has maintained all along that he has been throwing the ball well."