"When it came down to naming an Opening Day starter, the Reds basically went to Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo and said: Work it out between yourselves.

It didn't go quite that way, but it might as well have.

"We wrestled with it big time," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "I talked to Arroyo and talked to Harang both. ... Harang is throwing the ball great . . . he's the best choice."

Last year's numbers favor Arroyo, who went 15-13 with a 3.84 ERA. Harang went 6-14 with a 4.21 ERA.

"That probably won't be a popular decision," Baker said.

But it was clear Harang wanted the start more.

"I went in and told Bake: 'I want the ball. If you're giving it to anybody, I want it,' " Harang said.

"It means a lot to me. I'm not going to turn down the ball whenever I can get it. I know Bronson's take on the whole thing. He'd much prefer to stay on his routine and not have to deal with the aspects around Opening Day."

This will be Harang's fifth straight Opening Day start, which will tie Pete Donohue (1923-27) and Mario Soto (1982-86) for most in team history. Soto holds the club record with most Opening Day starts at six.

Arroyo made it clear from the time Baker wavered on naming Harang that he would rather start another day.

"Dusty said he'd read the article when I said if I had my choice, I'd rather be in the 2 hole," Arroyo said. "I said, 'Yeah, that's true.' He said, 'What do you think about throwing in the 1 hole?' I said I'll throw wherever you want. It doesn't matter to me. He said he was going to talk to Aaron and make his decision. Aaron said he felt good and wanted to pitch. (Baker) made his decision based on that.""