Blue Jays pitcher T.J. House struck in the head by a line drive

Toronto Blue Jays reliever T.J. House was taken off the field in an ambulance Friday after being hit on the head by a line drive in the ninth inning of a spring training game against the Detroit Tigers.

House was talking before the ambulance left the field in Lakeland, Fla., Toronto Manager John Gibbons said.

Tigers Manager Brad Ausmus said House’s injury was among the scariest things he has witnessed in a baseball game.

“When I went out there, his face was in his glove,” Ausmus said. “There was blood on his face, blood in the glove — everything.”

The pitcher was hit on the back of the head by a ball off the bat of John Hicks. The ball ricocheted about 30 feet into the air before being caught by catcher Mike Ohlman.

“Before he even caught it, people were signaling for the trainers to come out. You could tell the infielders were shaken by what they saw,” said Nick Brzezinski, who works for the Blue Jays’ Class A Lansing Lugnuts and was watching from along the first-base line.

House fell to his stomach and was face down on the mound for nearly 20 minutes while being tended to by trainers. House was put onto a stretcher and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was placed into an ambulance for transport to a hospital.

Gibbons said the 27-year-old House had feeling in all of his extremities.

“I couldn’t get near him,” Gibbons said. “They were working on him. It’s scary, you know. He was talking, he could feel everything, so, hopefully, that’s a good sign.”

Etc.

Oakland Athletics Manager Bob Melvin left spring training to tend to a personal matter. A timetable for Melvin’s return to Arizona was unclear, the club said Friday. Bench coach Mark Kotsay will manage the A’s during Melvin’s absence. … Tim Tebow went 0 for 4 with a strikeout and New York’s Matt Harvey gave up one run in three innings — a long home run by Reid Brignac — during the Mets’ 7-6 loss to the Houston Astros in a split-squad game. … St. Louis starter Mike Leake retired his first 11 batters before Bryce Harper’s fourth spring training homer in the Cardinals’ 7-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Eric Fryer hit a two-run single in the Cardinals’ five-run fourth. … Edwin Espinal hit a game-ending, three-run homer off b to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.