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T.J. House tossed two shutout innings on Wednesday, in his first outing of the spring. Things did not go quite as smoothly for the southpaw, who is fighting for a spot in the Indians' starting rotation. House got through the 1st inning without incident (well, there was a defensive incident, but it didn't involved House, and it didn't lead to anyone scoring... more on that moment in a minute), but in the 2nd House gave up a leadoff single, then gave up a home run to Jared Hoying. (Hoying hit 26 dingers in the PCL last year, so he's clearly got some pop.) In the 3rd inning House made a throwing error, allowing the leadoff man to reach base again. The next batter singled the runner to third, and a ground ball then scored him.
Three innings from House, with 3 runs on 3 hits. House picked up a couple strikeouts, and didn't walk anyone. When not giving up long home runs, he was mostly getting ground balls. I wouldn't say it was an awful line, or even an especially bad one, aside from the fact that giving up a home run is always a bad thing. Another great outing might have started some talk that House should be moving ahead of Salazar in the fight for the fifth spot in the rotation. Alas.
(With Gavin Floyd sidelined with arm soreness, there may be more than one opening in the rotation anyway.)
Among the relievers with a strong shot at making the Opening Day roster, Cody Allen and C.C. Lee each pitched a scoreless frame today, while Kyle Crockett gave up a run on two hits and a walk.
In addition to House's throwing error, Giovanny Urshela misplayed a ball. Lonnie Chisenhall and Zach Walters have both already made errors at the hot corner this week too, which isn't a huge deal but isn't encouraging either. Urshela at least had the decency to also hit a two-run homer, which I'd say more than makes up for his defensive miscue. James Ramsey also homered, tying the game at 7-7 in the top of the 9th, but Shawn Armstrong loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning and then gave up a game-ending single.
Mandatory Francisco Lindor mention: He doubled.
The Tribe take on the Mariners on Monday at 4:05 ET. The game will be broadcast through MLB.tv.