Tomko Tames Dodger Offense

The Dodgers completed their 19-game, season-opening stretch against National League West opponents Sunday with a 5-0 loss to the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.

Coming out on the short end of a shutout for the fourth time, however, did not dissuade the Dodgers from believing they will contend for their first division title since 1995.

They have seen the West, with the exception of defending World Series-champion Arizona, and their 11-8 record puts them 11/2 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants. Manager Jim Tracy said “satisfactory” was the word he would use to describe his team’s performance to date.

“I’m satisfied from what we’ve seen from the pitching standpoint and I feel strongly that we’re better offensively than what we’ve shown to this point,” Tracy said. “I’m satisfied with our defense.

“But there is a ceiling to be reached with this club. We can be better than we have been. We can be more consistent.”

The Dodgers are off today and will open a six-game trip at Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the first of 28 games outside the division. They will not play another NL West foe until they open a three-game series against the Diamondbacks at Phoenix on May 24.

“If we can play like we’re playing inside our division and play extremely well outside, then we set ourselves up very well to have a lot of fun this summer,” Tracy said.

On Sunday, it was Padre starter Brett Tomko (1-1) who enjoyed one of the best performances of his career against a Dodger lineup that lacked four regulars because Tracy rested catcher Paul Lo Duca, left fielder Brian Jordan, shortstop Cesar Izturis and second baseman Mark Grudzielanek.

Tomko gave up two hits and struck out a career-high 13 in seven innings as the Padres ended the Dodgers’ four-game win streak before 48,469.

Phil Nevin raised his batting average to .397 with a run-scoring double against Andy Ashby in the first inning, a run-scoring single in the fifth and solo home run against Terry Mulholland in the seventh. Nevin’s homer, his fourth this season and 100th as a Padre, came after Trenidad Hubbard hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer against Mulholland.

Tomko, 29, was acquired in a six-player trade with the Seattle Mariners last December. He struck out five of the first six batters and struck out the side in the second and seventh innings.

“In Seattle, I couldn’t get out of the minor leagues during the season,” Tomko said. “Being traded to San Diego, I couldn’t have asked for a better situation.”

Tomko gave up a triple by Alex Cora with one out in the third inning and a pinch-hit double by Izturis to start the sixth when the Dodgers had their best chance of scoring.

One out after Izturis doubled, Tomko walked Jeff Reboulet before striking out Shawn Green and Eric Karros. Tomko’s 13 strikeouts were two shy of the Padre regular-season record of 15 set by Fred Norman in 1972 and tied by Sterling Hitchcock in 1998.

“He threw strikes, but he wasn’t over the middle of the plate,” Karros said.

“He was hitting corners and had a 94- to 95-mph fastball that he was still throwing in the seventh inning.”

Ashby (1-2) gave up two runs and six hits in six innings but struggled against the team he played for from 1993-1999. Ashby, who had walked more than three batters in only eight of his last 68 starts, walked six Sunday.

Green said the Dodgers are looking forward to aiding their cause by playing well outside the division. The Dodgers play Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Florida, the New York Mets, Montreal and Milwaukee before meeting the Diamondbacks.

“We just need to keep winning series, which is what we’ve been doing lately,” Green said. “If we do that, we’re not going to lose ground and we’ll be right where we need to be.”