He spent the next several seasons in the Tigers farm system. He had a record of 6-2 in 1976 with the Advanced A level Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League and an earned run average of 2.22. He split the 1977 season, spending the first half of the year at Montgomery in the AA Southern League, where he had a record of 9-2 and an ERA of 3.38 with 64 strikeouts in 104 innings of work. At Evansville Triplets in the AAA American Association, Underwood was 3-5 with a 5.22 ERA. He spent the entire 1978 season in Evansville, finishing with a 5-5 record a 4.15 ERA.\n', '

Underwood started the 1979 season in Evansville and had a 2-3 record and an ERA of 2.81. He was called up by the Tigers and pitched his first game on May 31 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium. Underwood defeated his brother, Blue Jays starter Tom, in his major league debut, pitching 8⅓ innings and giving up three hits and a walk, with the Tigers winning 1-0. With the Tigers, he had a 6-4 record and an ERA of 4.59 with 83 strikeouts in 27 appearances.\n', '

He spent the entire 1981 season with the Tigers, switching from starting to relieving. He had a 3-6 record that season and five saves, with an ERA of 3.59. In 1982, he was back in the minor leagues at Evansville, where he was used exclusively as a starting pitcher, and had a record of 9-8 with an ERA of 3.98, throwing 90 strikeouts in 165 innings.\n', '

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