Wednesday, April 22, 1998

BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Brett Tomko shut out the Phils until the seventh. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

PHILADELPHIA -- Brett Tomko could say all he wanted about how this felt good. Of course it did. But what it meant was something even more important, something that could be judged from an exterior perspective but that perhaps only Tomko could really understand inside.

It was a 6-3 victory for the Reds at Veterans Stadium Tuesday, a game in which Tomko outdueled Phillies' ace Curt Schilling, the National League's resident dominator, getting enough offense to stay ahead even when he stumbled.

What it meant, on an external level, is that Tomko is not only ready to take his place among the finest pitchers in the league, but is actually doing it. All that talk of potential, of how he could be one of the best, of how he could be the Reds' future ace, becomes hindsight when he pitches a game like he did Tuesday.

But to Tomko, it surely meant more. He had taken on the best and beaten him, avenging a 2-1 loss to Schilling in his own major league debut last May. It had to be one of the most satisfying moments of Tomko's short career, and the smile beaming across his still boyish face proved it.

"It was awesome," said Tomko, now 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA. "These are the kind of games you want to pitch in. Facing someone like that, of that caliber, to be battling with him, is just a great feeling."

Tomko whiffed seven. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

The pitching lines: Tomko, 7 1/3 innings, eight hits, three runs, one walk, seven strikeouts. Schilling, seven innings, seven hits, three runs, one walk, 11 strikeouts.

The hyped-up duel between two of the league's hottest hurlers lived up to the advanced billing. Neither was untouchable, but when Tomko got in trouble, he made the pitches to get out of it and benefited from a little luck, while Schilling was on his own.

Tomko threw six shutout innings, tiring in the seventh and then running down to empty in the eighth. It was good enough, however, because the Reds touched Schilling for three runs.

"Everybody talks about Schilling. He's a good pitcher, but he's beatable," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "Tomko's a pretty good pitcher too."

This was one of those games where there was practically no margin for error, where a couple of timely hits could do some serious damage and cost you the game. That's what happened to Schilling.

The Reds got to Schilling (2-2) for a run right off the bat -- leadoff man Chris Stynes singled and eventually scored when cleanup hitter Eddie Taubensee continued his hot string with a single to right to give Tomko a 1-0 lead. The Reds added two in the fifth when Dmitri Young doubled and scored on a double by Jon Nunnally, who scored on a Barry Larkin single to make it 3-0.

Bret Boone tags out Scott Rolen trying to stretch a single into two. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

"To get those kinds of runs off Schilling, that's huge," Tomko said. "That doesn't happen very often. When we went up 3-0, I knew I still couldn't afford to make mistakes, but I could go after the hitters more."

Schilling came in leading the National League with 41 strikeouts and added 11 more. But Tomko came up with seven of his own, and while he wasn't totally dominating, he was pretty good until tiring late.

"I felt really good," Tomko said. "I had good fastballs and my curveball was the best it's been all year. I struck out a few more than I have the last couple games, and that happens when I get my curve ball over."

Tomko ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up a two-run homer to Rico Brogna, the man who ruined Tomko's debut last year with a home run. The difference this time was the Reds still had a 3-2 lead, and McKeon left Tomko in.

Phillies' manager Terry Francona pulled Schilling after seven and the Reds' padded the lead in the eighth. Former Red Jerry Spradlin walked the bases loaded and Young cracked a single off Darrin Winston to score two. Nunnally then singled to score Bret Boone, and all of a sudden it was 6-2.

In the end, Tomko vs. Schilling wasn't the story. It was just Tomko.

"You knew Tomko was going to be pretty tough to handle," McKeon said. "He's coming along good."

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