Indians Bounce Back in 4-2 Victory over Reds

T.J. House Lays Solid Foundation in First Spring Outing for Indians

T.J. House picked right up on Wednesday where he left off in 2014. In his first showing of the Cactus League season, House maneuvered his way through two perfect innings of work. It was quite the contrast from Josh Tomlin, who got the start for the Tribe.

In Tomlin’s two innings of work, he allowed two runs on three hits, including a lead-off home run to the Reds’ speedy center fielder, Billy Hamilton. Chris Dominguez eventually followed by doubling home Skip Schumaker, who had also doubled two batters earlier. Needless to say, this was not what Tomlin had hoped for in his spring debut as he battles House an a number of contenders for the final spot in the Indians’ starting rotation.

Meanwhile, the Indians’ offense showed up in a big way on Wednesday after going silent for much of the day in Tuesday’s opener. The Tribe racked up four runs on 10 hits against the likes of Anthony DeSclafani, Kevin Gregg, and Sam LeCure, just to name a few.

The Indians got on the board in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a sacrifice fly by Roberto Perez that brought home Carlos Moncrief. Moncrief had himself a day, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored. He would cross the plate for the second time on the day thanks to a Tyler Holt single in the bottom half of the sixth to tie things up at two apiece.

The Indians jumped out in front for good in the bottom half of the eighth inning. A fielding error by Reds third baseman Neftali Soto allowed the go ahead run to cross the plate. They would get an insurance run to go up 4-2 when Raisel Iglesias uncorked a wild pitch.

The Good:

1. As previously mentioned, Carlos Moncrief had himself a day going 4-for-4 at the plate. Moncrief is a very talented player who has shown flashes in the minor leagues. If given the proper opportunity he could very well become a solid contributor to the big league club. Today’s game was a good first step towards stating his case for a roster spot.

2. Francisco Lindor also gave Indians fans a glimpse of what is to come, as well. Lindor had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-3. He also turned in some slick glove work, as the gif below demonstrates. Let’s just get it started now. #FreeLindor

3. T.J. House put his best foot forward. If he wants to win the fifth and final spot in the rotation, he’ll need to keep on doing what he did today. If he can do that, and based on last season’s body of work, House should make a very compelling argument.

The Bad:

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1. Josh Tomlin did the exact opposite of T.J. House. Where House showed he is up to the challenge of a pitching competition, Tomlin seemed to shrink in the moment. Luckily for him, this was only the first outing of the spring so he has plenty of time to turn things around.

2. The Indians left 10 men on base. That’s not good. And while it is spring and something that can be overlooked for the time being, that has been a major cause for concern the past two seasons. Hopefully this is something that corrects itself once the regular, everyday lineup hits the field.