Sunday, April 11, 1999
REDS NOTEBOOK
Tomko better but not good enough
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ST. LOUIS — Some good news for the Reds: Brett Tomko improved on every aspect of his Opening Day performance.
The right-hander yielded four hits and walked just two batters while striking out five in seven innings Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Tomko faltered only in the fifth inning, when the Cardinals managed their two runs against him.
Though Tomko received a no decision, he criticized himself for allowing the Reds to be tied entering the fateful eighth inning, when Eric Davis' two-run single made the difference in St. Louis' 4-2 victory.
Said Tomko: “If I didn't give up two in the fifth, we wouldn't have been in that situation. That's kind of how I'm looking at it.”
But he also allowed himself to see the bigger picture: “It's a little steppingstone to build from. I feel a lot more comfortable.”
Last Monday, Tomko permitted eight hits and three walks (one intentionally) while surrendering six runs. This time, he carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, when the bottom third of the Cardinals' batting order feasted on a succession of high pitches to generate their first two runs. Alberto Castillo and Joe McEwing doubled before pitcher Jose Jimenez singled.
“Two runs in the blink of an eye,” Tomko said.
Bright side II
Danny Graves, who struggled in his first two appearances, prevented the final score from looking more lopsided by retiring all three hitters he faced and leaving the bases loaded.
Graves, who had allowed four hits, three walks and four earned runs in one inning of work, struck out Shawon Dunston, induced Castillo's potential double-play grounder that produced only one out when Eric Davis was called for base-runner's interference, and struck out McEwing.
“It looks like Danny and (Gabe) White (who struck out three of the final four hitters he faced last Tuesday) are starting to turn it around,” manager Jack McKeon said. “Now we have to get somebody else going.”
Balanced attack
Yes, Sean Casey can pull the ball, as he proved with his first-inning home run to right field. But his ability to drive pitches the opposite way is what distinguishes him from most other young hitters.
Casey, who entered Saturday as the National League's leading hitter with a .529 average, deposited his first four hits of the season into left or left-center field. He also homered to left-center in Friday night's seventh inning to break a scoreless tie.
Casey said that the art of using the entire field was impressed upon him in his early teens by a coach named Frank Porco: “He said, "Great hitters can wait on the ball and drive it to all fields.' I guess it stuck with me.”
After the Cleveland Indians selected Casey in the second round of the 1995 amateur draft, they took one look at their 6-foot-4 prospect and decided he ought to be yanking the ball to right field.
“I hit .240 at the start of the year,” Casey said. “Then a coach said, "Just do what you do.'”
He ended up hitting .329.
“People sometimes want to make you what they want you to be,” Casey said. “But you have to be the hitter you are.”
Bench booster
Maintaining his belief in keeping his reserves sharp, McKeon played Jeffrey Hammonds in center field for the second day in a row and seized upon Aaron Boone's lingering stomach illness to give Chris Stynes his first start of the season at third base.
The sight of Hammonds' name atop the lineup card prompted thoughts that he was being showcased for a trade. Not so, said McKeon.
“What's wrong with getting him in there?” McKeon said. “It's stupid to play them like we did in spring training and let them rot on the bench. If you use them only once every 10 days, they're not worth a darn when they come off the bench.”
McKeon plans to start Hal Morris today at first base, since the 10-year veteran is 6-for-13 lifetime against Cardinals lefty Donovan Osborne. That would leave Mark Sweeney and Michael Tucker as the only position players not to start.
Up next
Today at St. Louis, 2:10 p.m. Jason Bere (0-0, 7.20 ERA) will start against Cardinals left-hander Donovan Osborne (0-0, 4.50 ERA).
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