House makes Fenway Park Debut

Published 7:00 am Saturday, June 14, 2014

Picayune’s T.J. House will make his fifth start for the Cleveland Indians tonight.

This one, however, will come in one of the most historic and legendary ball parks in the world.

House looks for his first Major League win as the Indians take on the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park.

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House is coming off a not so solid outing Monday at Texas in a game where unlike his first three starts his teammates gave him plenty of offensive support.

But despite having a 10-4 lead in the fourth frame, House was unable to make it out of the fourth inning after giving up six runs and didn’t qualify for the win.

This will mark the second time in several weeks House has faced the Red Sox. In his third start, House held the defending World Champions to two runs on six hits in 5⅔ innings. In that game, he battled veteran slugger David Ortiz in an 11-pitch at-bat before getting Ortiz to fly out to center to end a threat in the fifth.

“It was impressive,” Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway said. “He reached back in that at-bat a couple times and he challenged [Ortiz]. He looked like a veteran pitcher who says, ‘Hey, I’m going to make you beat me. The rookie thing to do would have been to just give in and walk him and then you’re in trouble. But he didn’t do that, he reached back, challenged the guy and trusted his stuff.”

House admitted in an interview this week of feeling a little anxious, a little nervous to prove he belonged in the big leagues.

“I think everybody in this game has that small bit of doubt in the back of their minds,” House said. “You try to convince yourself that baseball is baseball wherever you go and at any level. But there’s nothing like baseball in the major leagues. Every pitch, every batter is a battle. There’s no easy outs in a lineup.”

This five start stretch started for House after he was recalled from Triple A Columbus when Zach McAllister went on the disabled list with a lower back strain.

“He’s pitched himself into our plans,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.