When Indians left-hander T.J. House arrived at Safeco Field this weekend, he had a locker waiting for him in the visitors’ clubhouse. It was in the middle of a stall used for the bat boy and another locker used for lost-and-found items.
Not only was the real estate less than ideal for House, the rookie was also tasked with returning from Triple-A Columbus for a start opposite Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. House proved up for the challenge, but Cleveland’s offense went silent against King Felix in a 3-0 loss in the finale of this three-game series.
“T.J. was really good,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “On a lot of nights, we’re sitting here right now bragging about his outing. Because of the way Felix threw, any mistake makes it really difficult to win that game.”
With the defeat, the Indians lost the series and have now dropped six of their past eight games.
One day after Josh Tomlin’s brilliant shutout against Seattle, Hernandez returned the favor with a dominant performance against Cleveland. Across eight innings, the right-hander piled up nine strikeouts against three walks with only one hit allowed. Combined with closer Fernando Rodney’s clean ninth, Seattle answered Tomlin’s one-hitter with one of its own.
It represented the first time that an American League venue saw consecutive one-hitters since May 3-4, 1996, when the Rangers spun two such games in a row against Detroit at Tiger Stadium. The last time it happened overall was on April 25-26 last season, when Washington completed consecutive one-hitters against the Reds at Nationals Park.
The lone hit allowed Sunday came courtesy of Lonnie Chisenhall, who sent a pitch up the middle and into center field for a leadoff single in the fifth inning. As it happens, it was a leadoff single in the fifth (Kyle Seager) that spoiled Tomlin’s near perfect game on Saturday night.
“It certainly makes for some quick games,” said Chisenhall, who is now batting .350 on the season. “Josh had a great game last night. You never want it to be you who gets one-hit. But, it happens every now and then.”
The Indians had not been held to one hit or less since July 27, 2011, when Ervin Santana spun a no-hitter for the Angels in Cleveland. For the Mariners, this marked the sixth time in franchise history that the club ended a contest with at least 10 strikeouts, no runs allowed and one or zero hits relinquished.
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