a big one

There are those who contend that the win is an overrated or even irrelevant statistic for pitchers. One suspects T.J. House would disagree. The former Picayune High star, who launched his pro career in 2008, got his first major league win on Saturday and earned a big-time beer shower from his Cleveland teammates. Left-hander House threw 6 2/3 innings against American League Central rival Kansas City, yielding nine hits and three runs in a 7-3 victory. It was his eighth MLB appearance (all this season) and seventh start, and he easily could have won before Saturday. He has a 4.24 ERA to go with his 1-2 record. He wasn’t dominant against the Royals, but he was clutch. “Every time we got something going, he found a way to end it,” KC manager and former Jackson Mets catcher Ned Yost told The Associated Press. P.S. Wondering what Oakland’s acquisition of Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, which gives the A’s a backlog of starting pitchers, means for Drew Pomeranz. The lefty out of Ole Miss was 5-4 with a 2.91 ERA when he went on the disabled list June 17 with a broken right hand.