SAN DIEGO — Less than a month ago, Brett Tomko was unemployed and working out at a suburban high school, trying to fix his faulty mechanics while hoping someone would sign him.
The San Diego Padres are glad they took a chance on the once-ineffective right-hander, since his two wins in the last week have helped them get right back in the NL West race.
Tomko, a castoff from the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, pitched six solid innings, and rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff delivered two more hits to lead the Padres to their season-high seventh straight win, 6-3 over Pittsburgh on Thursday.
The Padres pulled within a half-game of first-place Arizona, which was idle. They remained 2 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies in the wild card race.
San Diego finishes its regular-season home schedule with three games starting today against the third-place Colorado Rockies, who are five games behind Arizona and 4 1/2 back in the wild card race.
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If the Padres hold on and claim a playoff spot, Tomko will be ineligible because he wasn't signed until Sept. 4, 10 days after he was designated for assignment by the Dodgers.
"So this is my playoffs," Tomko said after allowing three runs and five hits. He was hit on the right triceps by Matt Kata's one-hopper in the second inning. He remained in the game and retired his final 11 batters.
After struggling with the Dodgers, Tomko (4-11) was designated for assignment to make room for David Wells, who had similarly been let go by the Padres.
The first thing he did after being cast off was to hook up with Dominick Johnson, the pitching coach at Poway High, in the suburb where Tomko lives in the off-season. With Johnson tutoring him and Tomko's brother, Scott, standing in, the right-hander worked on the flaws he'd developed.
"I kind of just figured things out a little bit better than what was going on in L.A.," he said.
Tomko said his fastball was topping out at 89 mph with the Dodgers, but he's gotten it back into the 90s.
"It was like, 'All right, there's still stuff left in the gas tank,'" he said. "I never doubted myself or thought I lost it, but when you work on something, it's nice to see the results."
Tomko made three relief appearances with San Diego before throwing six shutout innings against the Giants on Saturday night.
"That's what it takes to keep a streak alive, is for guys to pitch well," manager Bud Black said. "This time of year, it's important that your starting pitching gives you a chance to win a game."
