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CINCINNATI — A hand-drawn sign tacked on Aaron Harang's locker read: "Daddy, Be Ready."

Daddy wasn't ready.

Even before Harang threw a pitch during Houston's 13-4 implosion of the Cincinnati Reds Sunday, a National League scout said, "Why are they pitching him after only one rehab start in Louisville? Have they looked at the standings? Do they want to ruin the guy? Bad idea."

The man was correct. After testing his sore forearm only once in the minors, Harang walked to the Great American Ball Park mound and was beat on like a dirty rug: Five runs in the first inning and eight runs over four innings, the most runs scored off Harang in his career.

Just when one thinks it can't get worse, the Reds play another baseball game. They've lost six in a row, 14 of 16, they are 1-9 since Ken Griffey Jr. was traded and they are 1-7 this year against the Astros.

There was a tiny, tiny positive. Catcher Ryan Hanigan, called up from Class AAA Louisville Sunday, had two hits, including a two-run home run in the ninth.

Harang insisted his body is well-tuned, "But everything I threw right over the middle of the plate. They were sitting on my slider, especially the first inning. Everything they hit was a slider."

Michael Bourn slid one slider over the right field wall, a three-run rip to make it 5-0, and the Reds were cooked.

"I wasn't getting good depth on the slider and it definitely wasn't the way I wanted to come back," said Harang. "It has been a bad home series for us all (1-6, including Houston's four-game sweep). We have some soul-searching to do and figure some things out."

Manager Dusty Baker has it figured out, even though he says, "We helped a lot of batting average the last four games because every time I looked up they had double-digits in hits."

Baker is watching the final six weeks closely.

"The problem I saw when I got here is that we had a dozen or so eligible free agents," he said. "When the season gets late, if you are in the hunt through October, then it can be a motivator. If you are not in the hunt you see a lot more, 'I have to look out for myself' type of thing.

"I didn't say I'm seeing it here, but I've seen it happen. Human nature. Makes sense," he said. "When you are 18 games out, it's tough to say, 'I'm going to get that runner over from second to third with nobody out by giving myself up,' It is a lot easier when you are winning at this time of year.

"Winning takes care of a lot of stuff, including my sleep pattern," he said. "The next six weeks count a lot. We're looking at who still wants to win right now. That's big. If you want to win right now under these circumstances then how much better are you going to be in better circumstances?"

It certainly isn't happening now and losing certainly doesn't take care of anything but induce migraines and sleepless nights.

"It's like a broken record, us getting behind early in every game," said Baker. "Some weekend (four losses to Houston). Some week (1-6 on the homestand). It wasn't just a bad game (Sunday), it was a bad week.

"I am running out of things to say," Baker added. "They hit the ball and they hit it early. Every time we made a mistake and got the ball up they were whacking it. We just played from behind every day and it is tough playing from behind every day."