Five Things for April 7th: Tigers Drop First Game of the Season

1. The Tigers took two of three from the Orioles this weekend, but dropped a low-scoring affair Sunday afternoon.  Justin Verlander threw eight strong innings, giving up just two runs.  But aside from a Torii Hunter solo shot, the offense was very quiet.  Baltimore won 3-1.

The team played well this weekend, getting nice wins Friday and Saturday.  Hunter is on fire, going 6-12 with three home runs and a double in his last three games.  The starting pitching has been good.  The bullpen had a few issues.  Phil Coke got hit around on Saturday, and Al Alburquerque gave up a home run yesterday.

2. The Wings remain in good shape going into the final week of the regular season.  They are in the seventh seed with 88 points, one point ahead of eighth-placed Columbus.  New Jersey has 84 points.

Detroit dropped a game to Montreal on Saturday.  The Wings fell behind 3-0, but scored three goals in the the first half of the third period to tie it up.  The Habs scored two goals late in the game to get a 5-3 victory.

Grand Rapids native Luke Glendening had a great week.  First, he got a three-year extension.  He then scored his first career goal against Montreal.

3. The Pistons got a come-from-behind win over the Celtics Saturday.  Detroit trailed by 19 in the fourth quarter, but the second unit came in and sparked a run.  Andre Drummond had 19 points and 20 rebounds, and Peyton Siva had five assists off the bench.

4. Two of college basketball's blue bloods are meeting for the national championship game tonight.  Kentucky will play UConn in what should be an outstanding game.  The experienced guards of the Huskies have carried them for most of the season, but they will have their hands full with the much bigger Harrison twins.  DeAndre Daniels has been playing great for UConn, and his ability to stretch the floor will be huge tonight.

5. In the NBA, the Pacers continued their recent slide with a loss to the Hawks.  Oddly enough, Roy Hibbert only played nine minutes in the game.  He did not play in the second half, and did not talk to the media after the game.  Frank Vogel told the Indianapolis Star that he felt Hibbert was worn down and could use some rest.  Regardless of how you spin it, the Pacers have lost seven of their last nine with the playoffs right around the corner.