T.J. House

It looks like T.J. House will be staying in the Indians' rotation for a while.

(Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – T.J. House, the here today, gone tomorrow pitcher, is apparently going to stick around for a while.

Manager Terry Francona said House will remain as the Tribe's fifth start. For how long that lasts is anybody's guess.

When asked if House was in the rotation Tuesday, Francona said, "Yes, I told you that the other day. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be here. We're not going to keep a guy if he isn't pitching. We'd go get a reliever."

It's good news for House, but that's not exactly how it unfolded.

After House started and lost Sunday in Seattle, Francona was asked if House had done enough to earn a spot in the rotation. The Indians started this eight-game trip with a four-man rotation because of off days.

Francona replied that he wasn't ready to make that decision yet and with "Thursday's off day, we can do anything we want."

Apparently that meant House has been added to the rotation, but for how long remains a question.

The Indians optioned Zach McAllister to Class AAA Columbus at the start of this trip because they would only need four starters. When Justin Masterson couldn't start Sunday because of a sore right knee, House was recalled from Columbus to fill in. McAllister could not be recalled unless a player was placed on the disabled list because he hadn't been in the minors for 10 days.

While the Indians were on this western swing through Phoenix, Seattle and Los Angeles, McAllister and Danny Salazar have been pitching well for the Clippers. McAllister and Salazar both opened the season in the Tribe's rotation.

McAllister, who started Tuesday night, had won his two previous starts, forging a 1.26 ERA. He struck out 12, walked two and allowed two earned runs on 12 hits in 14 1/3 innings.

Salazar is 1-1 in his last two starts with 2.03 ERA. He's struck out 16, walked three and allowed 12 hits and three earned runs in 13 1/3 innings. Salazar has thrown over 70 percent of his pitches for strikes in his last two starts.

Asked if Salazar might get another chance to help the Tribe at the big league level this year, Francona said, "Oh, yeah. We like Zach, too. Right now we have five guys pitching. Things happen, they always do, so to have guys who can step in and hopefully win is important."

House is 0-2 with a 4.45 ERA in seven appearances, including six starts, for the Indians.

Where's the offense? The Indians are the first team since the 1916 Boston Braves to lose consecutive one-hit shutouts.

They were beaten 3-0 Sunday by Seattle's Felix Hernandez and Fernando Rodney and 1-0 Monday night by the Dodgers' Dan Haren, Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen.

On Saturday, Tribe right-hander Josh Tomlin threw a one-hitter in a 5-0 victory over the Mariners.

It is the first time since 1914, according to baseball-reference.com, that the Indians have been held to one-hit in consecutive games.

The Tribe is only the fifth team in the "live ball era' (1920) to be held to one or zero hits in consecutive games. It happened to the Reds in 2013.

Starting point: The three one-hitters started with Tomlin on Saturday. Yan Gomes caught him.

"It's a lot of fun," said Gomes. "Whenever we needed to go in, he did it. He just went in and out the whole game.

"It was funny to watch because the next day the guy did the same thing and Tomlin had an even better outing. Then it happens again on Monday night."

Tomlin retired 27 of the 28 batters he faced.

"The thing with Tomlin is you know exactly what you're getting," said Gomes. "He's a solid guy. You know he's going to battle no matter what. It was one of those days where everything he had, had a little extra."

Finally: The Indians are making progress in negotiations with first baseman-outfielder Mike Papi from the University of Virginia. Papi was their third overall pick in the June draft with a slotting value is $1,495,400.