Sports: Tigers vs. Royals Tonight

Tigers

The Tigers were off Monday and start a three-game series with first place Kansas City tonight.    Justin Verlander will start against the Royals’ Danny Duffy.  Broadcast time is 6:40 p.m. on WBCK.  The Royals lead the AL Central by 8 ½  games over Minnesota, and 11 ½ games over the Tigers. Detroit is only 3 games back in the race for the final Wild Card spot, but a total of 7 teams are in the hunt for that spot.  Former Tiger David Price made his first start since being traded to the Blue Jays.   He struck out 11 in a 5-1 win over the Twins.  In 8 innings pitched, Price gave up only a solo homer to another former Tiger, Torii Hunter, to go 10-4 on the season.  Former Tiger Yoenis Cespedes went 3-for-4 with a pair of two-run doubles as the New York Mets crushed Miami 12-1 to take over first place in the NL East.

Bombers

The Battle Creek Bombers beat the Lakeshore Chinooks, 4-3. Battle Creek scored four unanswered runs to come from behind.   Their overall record is now 26-41 with just five games to play in the season.  Most of the team are off tonight, but 4 will play in a showcase game for Major League Scouts in Madison.  The Bombers have 5 more games left, all on the road.

City League Baseball

The Detroit Jet Box team will join host team HBC Behnke at the NABF World Series in Battle Creek starting on Wednesday.   Some other teams coming include The Englewood New Jersey Athletics, the Lombard Orioles, the Cleveland Black Wolves, the Battistoni Diesel, the St. John's Lefty's from Pittsburgh and the Michigan City Lakers.  Other teams include the defending champion Stratford Storm, Cincinnati Chiefs and  Brooklyn Sports Fever.  Jim Demarest will be giving us updates at 6:45 all this week on WBCK.

Lions

The Lions’ first practice of the season is this morning.  The Lions placed defensive tackle Haloti Ngata on the non-football injury list on Monday.  Coach Jim Caldwell says Ngata hurt himself working out and will be out "for a little bit" — Caldwell says Ngata is a quick healer.  The Lions acquired the 6-foot-4, 340-pound Ngata from Baltimore in March.  He’s eligible to be activated to the active roster at any time.  Ngata is expected to help fill the literal and figurative void left by former Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.  Rookie defensive back Alex Carter also missed practice after twisting an ankle last week.  The preseason opens next Thursday, August 13th at Ford Field when the New York Jets come to town.

Coyotes

The Battle Creek Coyotes will host the Wayne County Bengals this Saturday in a Minor League Football Alliance (MLFA) playoff game at Harper Creek High School. Both teams are 5-3 in the league.  The Coyotes are 6-4 overall, and the Bengals are 7-4.  Battle Creek met Detroit in the first round last year and beat the Bengals.   Kickoff is Saturday at 7 p.m.  The winner of Saturday’s divisional semi-final playoff game will travel to Ligonier, Ind. on Aug. 15 to face off against the No. 1 seed, Michiana Thunderhawks.