Cleveland Sports Forum

Prospect-thin Aeros win 4-3 in 13. Chen 0-6 with 4K. Bellows and Goedart 2 hits each. Berger 4 2/3, 2 unearned runs. Landis back from AAA, 3 1/3 perfect innings, fans 4. Langwell 3 scoreless. Guilmet 1 run in 2 IP

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OF Levon Washington, the Indians' No. 2 draft pick in 2010, will have right hip surgery on Monday. He was hitting .440 in six games at Class A Lake County. Expected recovery is two to four months. .

8-3 loss for Carolina. Goodnight 3 innings, 6 hits, 5 bb, 6 runs, 3 earned. Haley 2nd inning of the season, 1-2-3. Aguillar 2nd homer of the season. Gallas 2 hits. RonnieRod 0-4, 203, Moncrief 0-4 193

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Sloppy loss for the Captains, 7-2; 3 errors (same by Carolina; 4 by Columbus) Lindor with his 2nd homer (equal to Aguillar) and two more hits (314). LuigiRod 2nd homer (equals Hafner) (349). Robel Garcia errors #9 and 10

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If the Tribe is looking for someone who can hit with power, and a RH bat at that, they might want to try Matt LaPorta. 2 more homers last night gives Matt 8 for the month, he's hitting 380. Beau Mills with his 3rd in somewhat limited playing time and he's at 297. How about LaPorta and Damon platooning in LF??

Frank Herrmann managed to allow only 2 runs and get the loss in relief on a yield of 6 hits and 1 walk.

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Aeros win 3-2 behind 27 year old Stephen Wright and more of the CC trade, Rob Bryson (2 2/3 IP, 1 run, 4K). Chen 2 singles, his avg is up but he shows no power and he's now a 1B. Thomas Neal 2 hits. Weglarz 0-3, 2K, 1 BB.

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Carolina ahead 4-1 after 4 1/2 and the game then suspended. Kyle Blair promoted despite his 12.00+ ERA gives the Mudcats 4 good innings, the only run was unearned. Ronny Rodriguez hitless drops to 195. Delvi Cid a 2-bi single and his 8th steal.

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Captains game rained out.

Mudcats complete suspended game with a 5-2 win. Shawn Armstong's 3 shutout innings give him 15 scoreless for 2012.
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Elsewhere:

Clippers short on starters give Hector Ambriz the ball to pitch 2 1/3 innings and more relievers follow.
Aeros short on starters get TJ House on promotion after an excellent month with the Mudcats; he yields one run in each of his first two AA innings.
Brett Brach starts game 2 for Carolina, 3 runs in. Jesus Aguillar hammers homer 3 for the good guys.
No Captains box posted.

Clippers game suspended in the 4th, 1-1

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Aeros tie it up in the 9th, win in the 10th. Solid relieving continues to keep them in nearly all games. This time Price 2 innings 1 run, Guilmet 1 and Radeke promoted also 1. I think Stowell is hurt once again, haven't seen him in a box lately. At bat: Weglarz 2 singles, Chen a double and 2 singles in 3 ab (329) and he caught a few innings; vet Goedart doubled twice and singled once, hitting .400. Old Aero Josh Rodriguez playnig against them. TJHouse AA debut 6 innings, 4 runs, 3 earned, 4 hits, 1 walk, 4K.

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Pregame story:

Pitcher eager for debut with Aeros

By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: April 30, 2012 - 11:19 PM | Updated: May 2, 2012 - 12:18 AM


T.J. House had gotten comfortable, and that’s the worst thing a pitcher could do in the low minor leagues.

So comfortable, the left-hander didn’t take his offseason preparation seriously heading into last year at high Class-A Kinston — and the results showed.

“Coming into the Carolina League my second year I kind of struggled right out of the gate,” House said. “I was going back to Kinston, where I felt comfortable and had gotten content. I kind of thought, ‘The last two years I’ve had success, there’s no reason to work any harder.’ ”

It didn’t take House long to realize that was far from the case. But once he’d fallen behind, it was tough to get back on track, going 6-12 with a 5.19 ERA in 25 games (24 starts). He recorded career highs in home runs given up (12), walks (66) and earned runs (75).

“I had problems not being physically fit and struggled to re-create my mechanics properly, so I was struggling from a lot of standpoints,” he said. “It was a rough year for me, but it taught me a valuable lesson: You never take anything for granted and you always bust your tail throughout the offseason.”

That’s what the 22-year-old did this past season, and this time the results were much more desired.

Although he began his third consecutive season at high-A, this time it lasted a little less than a month. House earned a promotion to Double-A Sunday, after going 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA in four starts with the Carolina Mudcats.

In 25 innings, he struck out 26 batters and issued six walks prior to the promotion.

House, acquired by the Indians in the 16th round of the 2008 draft out of Picayune High School in Picayune, Miss., is scheduled to make his debut for the Aeros at 7:05 tonight in the second game of this four-game series against the Binghamton Mets.

“Guys who don’t get off to blazing starts and don’t have the early success you hope they’ll have and fly through the system, more often than not, those guys end up not making it to the major leagues,” Indians farm director Ross Atkins said. “But there are those stories, when guys turn it around and put themselves on a very solid path to the major leagues.”

Potential recognized

Now that House knows what it takes, Atkins hopes its not too late to become one of those feel-good stories.

“T.J. House, over the last couple years, struggled to perform well,” Atkins said. “But we’ve seen the potential, we’ve seen the strides [he’s made] and we’ve seen the maturation. And now that we see the performance, it’s really [almost as] gratifying seeing a guy get to the major leagues.”

The first thing House had to do to take his offseason regime more seriously was to move out on his own.

After leaving the comfy confines of his parents’ home in New Orleans, House began watching what he ate and recommitted himself to working out.

“I’ve come to realize that everything you do in the offseason is almost more important than what you do during the season,” said House, who has a 20-33 minor-league record.

It wasn’t something he hadn’t heard before; it just took him awhile to see how true it was.

“Sometimes guys are listening to their coaches and trying to apply what they’re being taught, but the talent level’s just not there,” Atkins said. “But with T.J., the maturation from a physical, fundamental and mental side as a young high school player just wasn’t there yet. Now, he’d be a senior in college or just now graduating, so he’s performing at an appropriate level and off to a great start. To see that maturation and the commitment is very fulfilling for our player development staff.”

Brief game story:

Aeros 6, Mets 5

Key situations: Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Aeros loaded the bases with no outs but did not score. … Shortstop Juan Diaz tied the score with an RBI single in the ninth, but center fielder Tim Fedroff was thrown out at the plate to force extra innings. … Second baseman Ryan Rohlinger led off the 10th with a walk, and catcher Chun Chen lined a single to right field to score the winning run.

Quick hits: In his Double-A debut, Aeros starter T.J. House allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk in six-plus innings. … Chen, who entered the game as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored and two RBI.

Next game: Aeros left-hander Giovanni Soto (2-0, 4.05 ERA) and Mets left-hander Mark Cohoon (2-2, 2.25 ERA) are the scheduled pitchers at 7:05 tonight at Canal Park

Mudcats lose the nightcap, Brach 5 innings 3 earned runs on 7 hits. Flores a run in an inning. Nothing much besides Aguillar's solo homer, his 3rd.

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No Captains game. Levon W has surgery on his hip, will be out months.

For one of the youungest players in the Midwest League, and who is known for his defense, Lindor is hitting exceptionally well. 3 hits yesterday, one a double, lifts avg to 327. Adds his 9th steal. Teammate Bryson Myles 3 hits as well, also a double, and a walk and a caught stealing. Meanwhile Alex Lavisky, signed for $1M bonus in 2010 and rated by BA as our #7 catching prospect in 2012 is 0-5 with 4K and hitting 229; seems like another flameout candidate. Felix Sterling one of the youngest pitchers in the ML, 5 1/3 2 earend runs, 5 K, 2BB, 7 Hits.

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