Tigers 3, Athletics 0
OAKLAND (AP) - Detroit left-hander Phil Coke and two relievers combined on a three-hitter, Ryan Raburn hit a two-out RBI double in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie and the Tigers held on for a 3-0 victory against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.
Ramon Santiago had two hits and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth for Detroit. Manager Jim Leyland now needs one victory to become the 19th manager in major league history to reach 1,500 for his career.
The Tigers managed only four hits, matching their season low, but held on behind Coke's second successive solid start after he opened the year in the bullpen. Coke, a Northern California native, pitched seven shutout innings and struck out two for his first victory of the season.
Conor Jackson singled twice for the A's, who were shut out for the first time this year.
The Tigers, who won their previous two games on walkoff hits, couldn't get anything going against Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez but broke through after Gonzalez left.
Santiago greeted reliever Tyson Ross (1-1) with a sharp single to center and was sacrificed to second. After Casper Wells flew out to right, Raburn doubled hard off the wall in right-center. Santiago, who also singled in the fifth, scored easily.
That was all Coke (1-2) and Detroit's bullpen needed to slow down the surging A's.
Primarily a reliever throughout his career, Coke made his first start in the majors late in the 2010 season and was impressive enough to earn a spot in the Tigers' rotation this year. Because of the schedule, Coke opened the year in Detroit's bullpen when manager Jim Leyland worked with a four-man rotation, but he has been solid ever since.
Coke allowed only one Oakland runner past first base and retired 16 of the final 18 batters he faced. Joaquin Benoit pitched the eighth and Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his third save in as many chances.
It was a welcomed performance for the Tigers, who were stymied by Gonzalez for six innings.
Gonzalez gave up only two hits and extended his scoreless streak to 17 consecutive innings, but flirted with control problems most of the game and matched his career-high with six walks. Gonzalez also threw two wild pitches.
A 15-game winner for Oakland in 2010, Gonzalez still lowered his ERA to a stellar 0.47 before giving way to Ross in the seventh.
After giving up Raburn's RBI double in the seventh, Ross walked the first two batters in the eighth. Jeremy Blevins replaced Ross and promptly walked Brandon Inge to load the bases, then fell behind 3-0 to Santiago.
Two pitches later, Santiago hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Jhonny Peralta. Oakland left fielder Josh Willingham threw to third base but no one was covering and the ball skipped into the A's dugout. Brennan Boesch, who was at second, was awarded two bases and scored to make it 3-0.
Overall, A's pitchers combined to issue a season-high 11 walks.
Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press.
