House takes no decision

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, July 23, 2014

At least it wasn’t a loss.

Picayune’s T.J. House made his ninth Major League start for Cleveland Monday night on the road against Minnesota at Target Field.

House threw five innings and allowed three runs, and left with the Indians trailing the Twins 3-1.

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But Cleveland rallied to tie the game up, taking House off the hook. The Twins eventually won the game 4-3 with a late run.

The Indians optioned right-handed reliever Austin Adams to Triple-A Columbu on Monday, making room on the roster for the 24-year-old southpaw House.

House was officially recalled from Class A Mahoning Valley to make the start in Minnesota, where the Indians arrived for a three-game series. He had has spent the season splitting time between the big league club and Triple A Columbus, but had been sent down to the Indians Single A affiliate to make a start last week when both the Major League Baseball All-Star game as well as the Triple A All-Star Game took place.

Adams was recalled from Columbus July 11 and made only two appearances.

The Indians were slated to make another move Tuesday, when right-hander Danny Salazar was scheduled to be recalled from Columbus to start against the Twins. Salazar made nine starts this year before he was sent to Columbus May 16.

In Monday’s game, House completed five innings, giving up three runs. The Twins could’ve scored more, but a runner was thrown out attempting to advance after a double in the third when the cutoff man, Mike Aviles, dropped the throw. Another was also thrown out on the bases when trying to stretch a single in the fourth.

House gave up six hits and three walks, striking out two. He was more complimentary of his relievers than of his own performance.

“I don’t want to leave them out there for three or four innings,” he said.

Due to Justin Masterson being on the disabled list with inflammation in his right knee and a doubleheader they had last weekend, the Indians have had to do a little shuffling in the rotation.

“He did throw a lot of strikes, just not the quality strikes that we’ve kind of seen,” manager Terry Francona said, of House. “There was a lot of contact. Fortunately, we executed a couple plays to keep them off the bases.”

House stands 1-2 so far on the season with the Indians. It was not clear as of Tuesday when or where his next start would come.