Reds Beat 'Winless' Dodgers 3-1

Brett Tomko hasn't pitched like this since the end of last season. The Los Angeles Dodgers haven't lost like this in 11 years.

Tomko, one of the Cincinnati Reds' biggest concerns during spring training, pitched a career-high eight innings and singled home a run Saturday for a 3-1 victory over the winless Los Angeles Dodgers.

At 0-4, the Dodgers are off to their worst start in 11 years. The Dodgers' worst start since they moved to Los Angeles is 0-5, a mark they reached in 1970, 1976 and 1987.

Hitting is the biggest problem. The Dodgers managed only three hits off Tomko -- a single, a double and a triple -- as their team batting average fell to .164.

"We've got to come out and relax and get the monkey off our backs," said Mike Piazza, who had one of the three hits. "It seems we're all pressing. Every mistake we make is hurting us.

"We've got to hang in there. I can't explain it. It's like Murphy's Law. We've got to find a way to cut it off and get back to fundamental baseball."

The Reds have recovered from an 0-2 start by winning their last three games on the strength of their starting pitching.

Tomko, who tied Dave Burba for the staff lead with 11 wins as a rookie last season, missed three weeks of spring training because of shoulder tendinitis. His fastball was back by the last week in Florida, but his breaking pitches were sloppy.

When he threw a nasty curve to Thomas Howard in the first inning, he knew everything would be fine.

"I've been a little worried for the last week," said Tomko, who walked two, struck out seven and threw 102 pitches. "I didn't have great stuff in spring training and I didn't have command of my pitches. I wasn't able to spot my fastball like I did today. But after the first inning when I threw a curve to Howard, I thought, `I'm OK.'"

He dominated the Dodgers' weak-hitting lineup, allowing only two baserunners after the third inning. Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth for his third consecutive save.

Tomko also singled home a run in the sixth, when the Reds scored twice off Ismael Valdes (0-1) to snap a 1-1 tie. Pokey Reese, who had only one hit in his first 11 at-bats, choked up on the bat and hit a soft single to center ahead of Tomko to break the tie.

"It wasn't as solid as I wanted it to be, but I'll take it," said the shortstop, who has two singles in 12 at-bats and has made five errors. "I'm going to start choking up all the time ad just working on making contact. I was able to catch the curve ball at the end of the bat."

Things seem to go like that when Valdes faces Cincinnati, which has hit him much harder than any other team. Valdes is 3-5 against the Reds with a 5.20 ERA in nine appearances.

He gave up seven hits -- two of them soft liners that knocked in runs in the sixth inning -- and walked four while striking out six in 5 2-3 innings.

"I did my best today and I feel fine about it," Valdes said. "I threw pretty good. I feel great. I was a little wild in my first outing, but that was my best first outing of the last four or five years."

Jose Vizcaino walked and scored on Eric Young's triple in the third inning for a 1-0 lead, but the Dodgers got only one more runner to second base against Tomko.

Dmitri Young had a pair of doubles for the Reds and scored their first run when Brook Fordyce hit into a bases-loaded double play in the fourth, tying the score.

Bret Boone singled with one out in the sixth, stole second and scored on Reese's two-out single. Reese took second on the throw and came around on Tomko's soft liner over Young's head at second base.

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