Five Things for April 1st: Tigers beat Royals in Walk-Off win

1. The baseball season is upon us, and the first day of the Tigers' season was a very exciting one.  With the game tied at three in the ninth inning, newly-acquired shortstop Alex Gonzalez ended the game with a walk-off hit.

He wasn't the only new addition to look good at the plate.  Nick Castellanos went 2-4 and made some nice adjustments as the game went along.  Ian Kinsler was 0-4 in his Tigers debut.

Justin Verlander was decent, giving up two earned runs in six innings.  He did give up six hits and three walks.  However, the bullpen threw three scoreless innings that allowed the Tigers to get back in the game.

2. The Pistons beat the lowly Milwaukee Bucks 116-111.  The offense put up some terrific numbers as Josh Smith, Brandon Jennings and Greg Monroe all scored at least 20 points.  Then again, the Bucks have the worst record in the league.  Detroit has won two of their last ten games.

3. Opening day provided many other highlights.  Nelson Cruz hit a clutch home run in his first game as an Oriole.  Jimmy Rollins hit a grand slam in a wild game against the Rangers.  Mike Trout homered in his first at-bat of the season, but the Mariners pounded the Angels.  Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright combined to give the Cardinals a 1-0 win over the Reds.

4. The Spurs are thriving, and the Pacers are really scuffling.  It was evident last night. San Antonio blew out Indiana 103-77.  The Spurs have won 18 straight games, while the Pacers have lost six of their last eight games.

The Heat moved into first in the eastern conference with a win over Toronto.

5. Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal wrote an interesting column on the future of Michigan State basketball.  Couch says that MSU will be Denzel Valentine's team going forward the next two seasons, and I tend to agree with him.