Consider that itch scratched.
Coleman, the Tigers' no. 2 starter, pitched into the ninth inning and his teammates banged out 16 hits as Detroit buried the Cleveland Indians, 9-2, at Tiger Stadium this afternoon.
Coleman (1-2) said before the game that his rough start to the season (0-2 with a 4.61 ERA) was already getting to him.
"You don't want to go too far into the season before you win your first game," Coleman said in the clubhouse prior to the matinee affair. "I want to get the W today, real bad."
His teammates made it easy for him, racing to a 5-0 lead after three innings.
Coleman did the rest, limiting the Tribe to one run until Oscar Gamble led off the ninth with a home run. Coleman struck out three and walked none. He did, however, surrender 11 hits as he pitched three batters into the ninth before running out of gas.
"Joe gave up some hits, but when he needed an out, he got it," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said.
Gary Sutherland had four hits, Art James three, and four other Tigers had two hits apiece as the Indians were blown out.
Cleveland starter Jim Perry (2.1 IP, 9 hits, five runs) was ineffective from the first pitch, when Ron LeFlore singled. Sutherland followed with a double and Willie Horton grounded out, and after three batters it was 1-0 Detroit.
The Tigers added three more runs in the second as five of the first seven batters in the inning singled.
"Runs have been hard to come by for us, it seems," Sutherland said. "It was good to see the guys break out a little bit."
No one was more thrilled than Coleman.
"I was able to relax, and I needed to do that," Coleman said afterward. "It was just two starts [prior to this one] but I still felt like I was pressing a little."
The Tigers (5-5) swept the two-game series from the Indians.
They are 2-0 since getting demolished, 15-0, by the Yankees on Sunday.
"That's what's great about baseball," Houk said. "You don't have to wait long to try to get those bad tastes out of your mouth."
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Record: 5-5 (actual: 5-5)
Home: 2-4
Road: 3-1
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