"Aaron Harang pitched like the Aaron Harang Reds fans used to know and love – i.e, he pitched like a stopper.

Harang allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings to help the Reds beat the San Francisco Giants 6-3 Wednesday night before a crowd of 14,700 at Great American Ball Park.

The victory kept the Reds from losing three games in a row for the first time since mid-April.

Harang's defining moment came in the seventh inning, on his 114th pitch of the night.

He got Freddy Sanchez to fly out to right field with the bases loaded and the Reds leading 4-2.

"That was huge," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It was a great play by Jay Bruce. But that's what Harang needs to do."

No matter the outcome of that at-bat, it had been determined that Sanchez would be the final batter to face Harang.

"That was the batter of decision," Baker said, "and a very tough batter to boot.

(Sanchez) has won a batting championship. You know he's going to get the bat on the ball."

Harang fell behind in the count 3-0 and gave credit to catcher Corky Miller for helping him work out of the situation.

"Corky got me calmed down after 2-0," Harang said. "I got it to 3-1. Sanchez is an aggressive swinger. He's going to take a hack with the bases loaded. I made a good pitch there, and Jay was there to make the play."

After being shut out by the Giants on Tuesday night, the Reds scored six runs on Wednesday, thanks mostly to the veterans in their lineup."