Sports: Howard pulled as Wings lose 6-4

Red Wings

Patrick Marleau tallied two goals and an assist all in the third period as the Sharks skated past the Red Wings 6-4 at Joe Louis Arena on Thursday.  Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Stephen Weiss, and Justin Abdelkader all scored for Detroit, which has lost eight of 11 but remains third in the Atlantic Division with 90 points.  Jimmy Howard was pulled in the first after giving up three goals.   Petr Mrazek made 17 saves the rest of the way.  The Wings wrap up a four game home stand against the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday.   Petr Mrazek is likely to start in goal forDetroit.   They play the Islanders in New York on Sunday.

Tigers

The Detroit Tigers beat the Orioles 6-4 in Grapefruit League action Thursday in Lakeland,Florida.  Miguel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes both hit solo home runs and Victor Martinez also hit a two run shot. Starter David Price gave up three runs on three hits and struck out seven in six and two third innings. Detroit plays the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin this afternoon.

NCAA Tournament 

Top-seeded and undefeated Kentucky beat West Virginia 78-39.

Notre Dame 81,Wichita State 70.

Arizona 68, Xavier 60.

Wisconsin 79,North Carolina72.

Tonight, Gonzaga plays UCLA. Louisville faces NC State, Duke goes up against Utah, and Oklahoma meets Michigan State.   The winner will advance to the Elite Eight and take on either Louisville or North Carolina State Sunday for a spot in the Final Four. Broadcast time is 9pm Friday night on WBCK.

Pistons

The Detroit Pistons begin a two-game trip in Florida tonight  as they tip off against the Magic in Orlando. Detroit has won their last three. Forward Greg Monroe, who has missed five straight games with a knee injury, made the trip with the team but is not expected to be in the lineup tonight.  Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left the game against the Raptors on Tuesday after he suffered a bruised thigh. He practiced yesterday and should be ready to play against Orlando tonight.  The Pistons will travel to Miami to take on the Heat Sunday before returning to The Palace.

High School Basketball

The Boys state basketball finals are Saturday and WBCK will air two games.  At 10am it the Class D final, with Morenci taking on Powers North Central, followed by the Class A final Saginaw Arthur Hill taking on the winner of the Detroit U-D Jesuit/Detroit Western International game.

NASCAR

It's time for short track racing this Sunday as NASCAR goes to Virginia for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Golf

Charley Hoffman carded a 5-under 67 on Thursday to take the early lead at the wind-whipped Texas Open.

Mirim Lee fired a 7-under 65 in Thursday's opening round to take a 1-stroke lead at the Kia Classic IN Carlsbad, California.

GPS Causes MLB Pitcher To Get Lost
You’ve heard of baseball pitchers who have trouble finding the plate. How about a pitcher who can’t even find the ballpark where the plate is located? That was the deal with Edwin Jackson of the Chicago Cubs. He missed his first spring training start Tuesday when he ended up at the wrong stadium.Jackson says he typed “Oakland Athletics spring training complex” into his smartphone and off he went – in the wrong direction. The GPS on his phone sent him to Phoenix Municipal Stadium. ButOakland no longer plays there; they’re five miles away. He finally found the ballpark. And the way he pitched, next time his opponents might send a car for him. He left the mound early – after surrendering eight runs on nine hits in just 1.2 innings.