Right-hander Aaron Harang is making progress in recovering from his sore forearm.
He threw 31 pitches off the Minute Maid Park bullpen mound Monday and said everything went "real good, very good. It was going so good I was going rapid-fire and had to stop myself." Harang takes a bigger step on the path to recovery when he pitches live batting practice Wednesday.
While manager Dusty Baker is encouraged, he isn't looking for Harang's return for "10 days, maybe two weeks."
Said Harang, "We'll throw batting practice and go from there. I'll probably have to do a (minor league) rehab assignment because two weeks off without throwing -- I mean, the first day I threw, my shoulder had the normal stiffness and soreness until I threw again.
"I have to build my arm strength all over again," he added. "I have to do that and build up my pitch count. We're just going day-by-day and not getting too far ahead of ourselves."
ASTROS 5, REDS 4: Even a grand slam by LF Adam Dunn Monday wasn't enough to shake off the whammy Astros RHP Roy Oswalt has on the Reds. Dunn's slam, the ninth of his career and his 30th homer this year, gave the Reds a 4-3 lead in the third, but RHP Johnny Cueto gave up a two-run home run to 3B Geoff Blum in the bottom of third to give the Astros a 5-4 lead. The Reds had only two infield hits after Dunn's homer, enabling Oswalt to push his career record against the Reds to 20-1.
