Five Things for May 29th: Joe Nathan Blows Save as Tigers Lose to A’s

1. The back-end of the Tigers bullpen has been much maligned over the past few seasons, and it would be easy to place the blame on them for last night's 3-1 loss.  Joe Nathan gave up a walk-off three-run home run, but it doesn't change the fact that the Tigers only scattered six hits, drew no walks and hit into two double-plays.

Scott Kazmir, another starting pitcher that the A's have found off the scrap heap, is turning in a terrific season.  He efficiently shut down the Tigers last night, needing only 103 pitches to finish off a complete game.  His ERA is down to 2.36, and has struck out more than four times as many batters as he has walked.

The 6-9 batters in Detroit's lineup went a combined 0-12 with 5 strikeouts.  The Tigers have now lost 8 of their last 10 games.  Rick Porcello will pitch today for the Tigers against Jesse Chavez of the Athletics.

2. LeBron James was pretty much shut down by the Pacers last night, playing one of his worst games in recent memory.  James battled foul trouble, playing only 24 minutes and scoring just 7 points.   Paul George was terrific for Indiana, scoring 37 points.  21 of his points came in the fourth quarter. Indiana won the game 93-90, and has pushed the series to 3-2.

3. It's a different sport, but the Blackhawks were able to accomplish the same thing that the Pacers were able to.  Chicago forced a game six with a 5-4 double overtime win.  Former King Michal Handzus scored the game winner.

The Hawks got off to 2-0 and 3-1 leads, but LA came right back with three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead.  Ben Smith scored the game-tying goal on a bad rebound by Jonathon Quick, the second Chicago goal of the game that was a result of a juicy rebound.  Hanzdus finished things with nice skate-to-stick move that finished with him lifting a backhand over Quick:

4. Lions WR Calvin Johnson may be dealing with a little bit of drama, as TMZ reported that there was an alleged incident between his current girlfriend and the mother of his child.  According to that article, Johnson was present at the time of the incident, and a police report was filed.

5. The Blue Jays are the hottest team in the sport, and may be emerging as the favorite in the AL east.  They got their 9th straight win on walk-off against Tampa Bay, and hold a 3-game lead in their division.

In addition to the Jays and A's, the Phillies also got a walk-off victory.  It was Ryan Howard who hit the winning home run.