Five Things From the Weekend: Tigers Finally Win

Eight is enough for the Tigers

Twice the Tigers were swept, on the road in Anaheim and at home to Oakland, but it appears a trip to the windy city is what the doctor ordered for the Tigers as they finally get back in the win column. After Friday's extra inning affair that saw the White Sox homer on their final out and then win on a walk-off hit by pitch, it looked like more of the same and it would be three straight sweeps for the Tigers.

An offensive explosion on Saturday, and timely hitting of the home run variety on Sunday would say otherwise and the Tigers have now won two straight. Detroit gets ready for an interleague set against that other Chicago team, the Cubs. "I got a feeling things are about to turn around for us."

Don't Call it a Comeback

No Kyrie Irving, no problem for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anderson Varejao has been out, Kevin Love was injured all the way back in round 1 of the playoffs, and now the Cavs star guard has to undergo surgery to fix a fractured kneecap suffered in game 1 of the finals.

And then LeBron James took the team on his back to the tune of a triple-double on Sunday Night as the Cavaliers dispatched Golden State to even the series 95-93 in OT. LeBron's line: 39 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists in 50 minutes of work.

The series now shifts to Cleveland where the Cavaliers look even more behind the 8-ball with this latest injury. Still, all they need to do is win at home and the title Cleveland has so desperately desired will be theirs.

Lightning Strike Back

In somewhat related of teams that have lost home advantage in the series the Tampa Bay Lightning have stopped the bleeding after getting shocked by the Blackhawks in game 1, to win a thriller on Saturday 4-3 which ties the series at a game apiece.

The bigger story is Lightning netminder Ben Bishop who left the game with a lower body injury he seems to have suffered when Chicago scored to make the game 3-3. Backup Andrei Vasilevskiy came in for Bishop and closed out the game, tallying 9:13 on ice time and making five saves.

For the record, Lightning coach Jon Cooper has not yet named a game 3 starter.

37 Years in the Making

Sir Barton 1919, Gallant Fox 1930, Omaha, 1935, War Admiral 1937, Whirlaway 1941, Count Fleet 1943, Assault 1946, Citation 1948, Secreteriat 1973, Seattle Slew 1977, Affirmed 1978.

Finally after 37 long years, horse racing's most prestigious honor can add another name to this esteemed list. American Pharaoh won in convincing fashion over the other seven horses in the field to finish off a feat so rare only 11 other horses have done it.

History was made on Saturday. If you missed it, the internet has your back.

Swiss Sweetness in Paris

As was chronicled in our weekend guide to what was an awesome weekend in sports we saw history being made by an underdog. Swiss tennis player and eighth ranked Stan Wawrinka knocked off top player Novak Djokovic in four sets on Sunday morning.

Djokovic was seeking a title that would have given him the career grand slam of tennis. Instead it was Wawrinka who played spoiler and won only his second ever major title, previously winning the Australian Open in 2014, where he beat Rafael Nadal.

Speaking of Nadal, the french Open is usually his tournament of choice. He's been so dominant that Wawrinka's win is the first time since 2009 that Nadal didn't win, and the first winner outside of Nadal and Federer since 2004.