Wednesday, May 05, 1999
Tomko wins first at Triple-A
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
INDIANAPOLIS — There was a smile on Brett Tomko's young, stubbled face that hadn't been there since spring. He sighed, relaxed and confident, and for the first time in a month, maybe much longer, Tomko was talking about his pitching and loving every min ute of it.
He had every reason. Tuesday, in his first start in Triple-A since June 1997, Tomko just rared back and pitched. And pitched well — confident, relaxed, aggressive and sharp, in control. All the reasons he was sent back here from the Cincinnati Reds last week, things he wasn't doing in the big leagues.
His statistics weren't spectacular — 6ö innings, three runs, eight hits, five strikeouts and one walk in a 6-3 win for the Indianapolis Indians — but the Reds won't judge his fitness to rejoin the big club on stats alone.
It's more atttitude and aggressiveness, which Tomko showed in force.
“It was like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders,” Tomko said of when he fanned the leadoff hitter on three pitches. “It was nice to go out and pitch well. I wanted to come to the ballpark today, wanted the ball, wanted to win.
I haven't felt that way in a while.”
Nobody believes Tomko is a Triple-A pitcher, but he's here at Indianapolis to do two things: Get back to pitching aggressively and get back to thinking aggressively — the two edges he lost in his 0-1, 7.76 ERA start in Cincinnati this season.
“I was (mad),” Tomko said of his demotion, of the dejection that followed, of the sting of media reports that hurt his pride. “I took that to the mound with me. I tried to use my aggression as motivation.”
Granted, this was the Triple-A Louisville Riverbats Tomko faced — the worst-hitting team in the International League with a .225 batting average and an 8-18 record — so Tomko's outing must be measured accordingly.
But gauged against the competition he was asked to face, Tomko looked closer to the Tomko of old. He was not dominant, but at his very best Tomko is not as much a strikeout artist as a hard thrower.
And he threw hard almost all night, with nearly pinpoint control until his one walk came after 90 pitches.
“I was trying to kill somebody,” he said. “I was trying to throw it right through (catcher) Jason (LaRue).”
Tomko had only one 1-2-3 inning, but he challenged hitters — the Reds believe he wasn't in Cincinnati, a bone of contention between the two sides — and went after them, scorching his mid-90s mph fastball inside to get ahead in the count on most hitters he faced.
“He threw well,” said Indy pitching coach Grant Jackson, whom Tomko said he was excited to work with. “He gave up a couple of runs, but that's going to happen.”
Tomko threw 73 of his 102 pitches for strikes, going inside more than out. The Reds believe he was throwing outside and getting behind in the count too much in Cincinnati, but Tomko says, “I just couldn't throw strikes.”
Instead, he says, his problem was being tentative and lacking confidence, which he found again in the surroundings of a minor-league park.
“It's a different atmosphere here,” he said. “I got away from that atmosphere where it wasn't as fun. I had fun.”
The often laid-back Califor nian took to the mound all business, focused and efficient, working quickly between pitches and never seeming to break his concentration until he tired late. Perhaps Tomko's most impressive pitch was a hard, low fastball inside to strike out Anthony Iapoce, Louisville's .156-hitting center fielder, looking after allowing the first run in the fourth inning.
Tuesday, it looked like the “wake-up call” of being demoted was having the desired effect.
“What hope they see is,” Tomko said, “that I'm going to have a good attitude, that I took it positvely and I'm going to work hard.”
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