Sports: Tigers, Verlander lose 7-4

Tigers

The Tigers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4.  Pitcher Justin Verlander ran into trouble early. Gregory Polanco had two of Pittsburgh's six doubles.  Verlander (0-1), who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning at Miami in his first start, allowed seven runs and 10 hits — five of them doubles — in 4 1/3 innings. His 111 pitches were his most in an outing lasting fewer than five innings.  The Tigers managed a little bit of a comeback, with home runs from J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos and RBI’s from Victor Martinez and Miguel Cabrera.  Catcher James McCann threw out two Pirates trying to steal. Tiger catchers have only allowed one stolen base in six tries this season.  McCann left Monday’s game in the sixth inning after spraining an ankle in a collision at first.  Game two between the Tigers and Pirates is today, with Anibal Sanchez on the mound for Detroit.  Broadcast time is 12:45 on WBCK with the Rush Limbaugh Show on line at WBCK FM Dot Com and on our RadioPup App.

Tiger Injuries

Starting Pitcher Daniel Norris’ back and reliever Alex Wilson’s shoulder injuries are on the mend as each pitched two scoreless innings for Class A Lakeland during injury rehabilitation assignments Sunday.  Outfielder Cameron Maybin doubled in three at-bats in his fourth game with Lakeland.

NBA/Pistons

The playoff-bound Pistons host Miami tonight in the final regular season game at the Palace, and finish in Cleveland on Wednesday.  The Cleveland Cavaliers have wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference with a win over Atlanta.  The 7^th place Pacers also have two games left and hold a tie-breaker over the Detroit Pistons in the fight for the seventh seed.    The seventh place team will probably play Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.  The eighth seed will play the Cavs.

Red Wings

Detroit Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk says it is hard to make a final decision on his future.  Datsyuk was peppered with questions Monday, a day after being quoted in a story saying he was returning to Russia and retiring from the NHL.   Datsyuk says its not a certainty that he’ll retire.  He says with a lot of information going around, he wanted fans to hear about his possible retirement from him.  He said he hopes the media will focus on the playoffs after the press conference.  The Red Wings will play at Tampa Bay on Wednesday night in the first game of the playoffs.   Datsyuk has one season left on his three-year, $22.5 million contract. He will count $7.5 million against Detroit's salary cap next season even if he retires. Datsyuk acknowledges it was a mistake to sign a multiyear deal.   After Wednesday, the Red Wings also play at Tampa on Friday, and are home for a game on Sunday night.

Detroit Kid Picks Kansas

Highly touted recruit Josh Jackson has committed to playing basketball at Kansas next season.  The Detroit native attends Prolific Prep Academy in California and had narrowed his final choices to Kansas, Michigan State and Arizona.

Bowl Game Moratorium

The NCAA is prohibiting the creation of new bowl games for the next three years.  The move comes after three teams with 5-7 records were needed to fill the record number of 40 bowls last season.  The NCAA's football oversight committee last week recommended a three-year moratorium on sanctioning new postseason games and it was approved by the Division I Council.

Scully Drive

Dodger fans can now take Vin Scully Avenue into the main gate of  the Stadium.  The city of Los Angeles has renamed a section of roadway running from Sunset Boulevard to Stadium Way in honor of the 88-year-old Hall of Fame announcer.  Scully is set to broadcast the final home opener of his 67-year career today at 4pm. He's retiring at the end of the season.