The Giants have a killer schedule coming, so losing the series wouldn't make them uncatchable at all, but given the pushovers the Cubs are playing, I'm most concerned with keeping pace with them. We have to win one game just to keep SF close and give ourselves a good chance of catching them. If the Cubs keep winning though, we'll probably need two wins just to keep them close too. The offense REALLY needs to come out of its funk. Take away the two STL wins and what you see is a major problem ever since the Pittsburgh series; we're lucky to even be in contention. A big series against the lowly Brewers, and you get fourteen hits over 24 innings? Weak.
[Panamanian Cabbie] "You gringos are loco. Where are you from?" [Me] "Texas." [PC, with huge grin] "That makes sense." Back to 'Strostalk: How has Carlos looked on the mound so far?
I was worried about this too. Hopefully this means we're due to break out again. But the good news is we're finding ways to win, even without many hits.
Improved mindset triggers Tomko's run By David Kiefer, Mercury News The question is not "What has gotten into Brett Tomko?" It's what hasn't gotten into him: the worry, the panic, the fear of failure. The Giants pitcher can thank Los Angeles sports psychologist Alan Jaeger for helping turn his season around, and just in time. Since their first conversation, Tomko has built a 4-0 record with a 1.00 ERA over five starts, holding hitters to a .160 average during that span. He hopes to continue his success tonight against the Houston Astros in the opener of a series crucial to both teams' postseason hopes. "I can overanalyze with the best of them," Tomko said. "I've been notorious for that my whole career, beating myself up after bad games, worrying about what's coming up five or six days from now. It's been a 180-degree turn for me." Or, as he calls it, a "big piece of the puzzle." Jaeger has never met Tomko in person but was an interested observer Aug. 26 when Tomko took the mound in Miami to face the Florida Marlins. Through a phone conversation set up the day before by Tomko's agent, Jaeger -- who has worked with pitchers such as the A's Barry Zito, San Diego's Trevor Hoffman, and the Giants' Scott Eyre -- gave Tomko a briefing on Far Eastern-influenced breathing patterns and concentration techniques, as well as daily exercises to keep his focus. "The cool thing with Brett was that he was so open and ready," Jaeger said. "What I told him to do, he basically embraced. He dropped any sort of opinions, listened and followed through." While Tomko pitched a four-hitter to earn his first career shutout, "I watched the whole game on the computer," Jaeger said. "It just blew my mind." Tomko has the lowest ERA in the National League in September (0.82) and has won five consecutive decisions, including two complete games. Meanwhile, the rest of the rotation has been rejuvenated, earning six consecutive wins through Friday, its longest streak of the season. Perhaps that's just what the Giants were seeking from Tomko (10-6, 4.26). He has taken the torch from Cy Young Award candidate Jason Schmidt, who has struggled in four of his five starts since straining his right groin Aug. 17, and become the rotation's centerpiece during the stretch run. Tomko, who has a 72-57 record in eight seasons with five teams, is 9-2 since coming off the disabled list June 25 after a mild elbow injury. From a pitching standpoint, Tomko has taken a more aggressive approach, ditching the cut fastballs and sinkers in favor of the harder and sharper four-seam fastballs and sliders. "I think throwing four-seamers and trying to pound the ball has built my arm up a little bit better, and it seems like I can carry that on throughout the game," Tomko said. "I'm not falling behind guys, trying to trick them and putting myself in bad counts. I'm just being aggressive." The day after his performance in Florida, Tomko told Jaeger about a moment of self-discovery on the bus ride to Pro Player Stadium, the heightened sense of awareness that carried over to the field. "When things are going good, you ask any pitcher what they were thinking and it's pretty much, `I don't know. I wasn't thinking of anything,' " Tomko said. "That's the whole thought process of this whole thing. Instead of thinking of five or six different things, you focus on `OK, what am I going to do now? What am I going to do with this pitch?' " Jaeger believes mental strengthening is underappreciated in the sports world, and Tomko agrees. "Ninety-five percent of athletes are consistent physically, but inconsistent mentally," Jaeger said. "The mind is the wild card." link
If I may be allowed to answer this one - so-so at times to below average most of the time. He's learning how to pitch at a major-league level without a sparkling fastball now. He's been a little tentative with it, so his walk numbers are a little disturbing, unfortunately - he's giving up home runs at a Lima-like pace. When he has control of his fastball and can paint the black he's been effective, even with the walks - but when he doesn't, he'll have a mediocre start. With all that, he's only had two of his seven starts under five innings, and has generally given the Astros a chance to win the games he's started. And I've always had the feeling Carlos thrives under pressure - I think the games down the stretch might bring the best out of him.
The key to this series is going to be getting the guys in front of Bonds out. Over a 3 game series Bonds is GOING to hurt you whether you walk him or he gets hits, but if you don't let him come to the plate with men on base, then the damage will be seriously limited. Let's take 2 out of 3 in San Francisco and hope we can get some excellent pitching out of the Pirates. I too believe we could come back and overtake the Giants if we lose the series, but the Cubs might be a different story. We really need those Pirates to come out strong.
There are 3 games in October.... http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=hou&m=10&y=2004 We have a home series against the Rockies.
Yeah whatever. Meet your waterloo Bretty... Career batting average against the "once" hot Brett Tomko. Something will give today and we know what will... Big Ugly is swinging a hotstick now so that .176 is bound to unravel today. Viz' .167 is unfortunate but it can only get better. Brad may not play but if he does, he will continue his succesful PA against Brett. Biggio .233 is not good but all he has to do is get on and let Beltran and his sizling .455 average do the rest. Here comes the 'Stros....
There are three (3) games in October you that right? We are 83-67 i.e. 150 games played of so far out of a combined necessary total of 162. That leaves us with 12 games more....unless if our last 3 opponents forefit and give up out of fear of what we will do to them.
Silly Tomko. Paying all that money to a highly acclaimed sports psychologist when all he had to do was watch Bull Durham. "Don't think. It can only hurt the ballclub."
Wow. I wonder if Berkman has a worse average against any starting pitcher he's faced multiple times??
