Phillies' Aaron Harang enjoys comforts of home

AARON HARANG is pitching so well at Citizens Bank Park - and really, pretty much everywhere - that he might just pitch himself to a team that's not 10 games under .500 and stuck in last place at some point in the next two months.

Harang was dominant yesterday afternoon, holding the Pirates to three singles and a walk after the first inning and flirting with his first shutout in close to two years in leading the Phillies to a 4-2 victory.

For the second time in his last three starts in South Philly, Harang went eight innings and didn't allow a run.

The 37-year-old Harang, signed to a one-year, $5 million deal this winter, doesn't look only like a free-agent bargain for the Phillies, but also a dependable, proven pitcher the rebuilding front office can flip for a prospect or two before Major League Baseball's trade deadline in July.

Last August, the Phillies went that route with another veteran on a one-year contract, trading Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers for two prospects. Harang is pitching markedly better than Hernandez (3.87 ERA in 23 games with the Phillies in 2014).

"I mean, that's something I can't dwell on," Harang said. "I have to think about what I will do five days from now and what I will do to help other guys by watching bullpens and paying attention to things, in case I notice anything. I think that's the biggest thing - being there and being accessible to try and help younger guys go through ups and downs to get them in the right direction."

Harang has won 126 games in a 14-year career and has never appeared in a postseason game. But, for now, he's content to be a mentor on a team that took a chance on him last winter.

Harang is the oldest player in the Phillies clubhouse, but, along with first-year starting shortstop Freddy Galvis, has been one of the team's most dependable players in the season's first six weeks. Harang has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his eight starts.

"He's a veteran guy," said Ryan Howard, who hit his seventh home run. "This isn't his first rodeo."

Harang gave up two hits in the first and then picked his way through the Pirates' lineup with ease. He faced the minimum in five of the next six innings.

Harang had some help from battery mate Cameron Rupp: The backup catcher ended two innings by throwing out players attempting to steal second base, Josh Harrison in the third inning and Starling Marte in the fourth.

"Aaron gave me good pitches, he was quick to the plate and Freddy put a tag on him," Rupp said. "It's more than just me throwing the ball right there."

But Rupp has thrown out seven of 13 (54 percent) attempted basestealers this season and 14 of 33 (42 percent) in his career. Only five starting catchers in baseball - Salvador Perez (first, at 50 percent), Russell Martin, Buster Posey, Jason Castro and Yadier Molina - have thrown out at least 40 percent of potential basestealers this year.

"We work on holding runners," Rupp said. "Our pitchers do a good job of it. I've had good pitches to throw on. And so that makes it a lot easier for me."

The Phillies' offense made it a lot easier for Harang by putting a crooked number on the home half of the scoreboard in the first inning for the second time in his last three starts.

Ben Revere began the first inning by reaching on an error and Galvis (3-for-3) followed with a single to right. After Chase Utley (0-for-4 and now hitless in his last 10 at-bats) flied out, the Phillies went on the attack against former Phillie Vance Worley.

Howard singled to load the bases, Cesar Hernandez worked his team-leading 13th walk to bring in the game's first run, and Grady Sizemore followed with a run-scoring single to make it 2-0. With a lead, Harang coasted for the next seven innings.

"He started to pitch it down in the zone, got some early contact outs at that point," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "I think with the early runs, now the [Pittsburgh] bats become a little more anxious. It seemed like he settled in and works down in the zone, and he seems to really miss the barrel of the bat and [is] doing a good job of that. It results in some ground-ball outs and fly-ball outs."

Harang needed 112 pitches to get through eight innings, so, for the second straight game, the ball was turned over to Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon. But Harang lowered his ERA to 2.03 (sixth-best in the NL) and his ERA at Citizens Bank Park to 0.61.

It's the lowest ERA for a Phillies pitcher through his first four starts at home since Tom Underwood in 1975 (0.52 ERA).

"I'm just trying to execute pitches," Harang said. "I'm going out there without fear of giving up a home run. That's a big thing. I learned that in Cincinnati. You keep runners off the base and give up a home run, it's not going to hurt you. The philosophy is to just keep runners off the bags and let the defense make plays behind you. If you make that mistake, it's only going to be one run."

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese