Sports: Tigers Score 19 without four injured starters

The Tigers have four starters out with injuries.  Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, JaCoby Jones and Jose Iglesias are all on the disabled list.   Iglesias has been cleared to play again and could be back in the lineup Thursday night.  The Tiger shortstop was injured on the final play of last Wednesday's game at Tampa Bay. He was kneed in the jaw, and had concussion symptoms.

Miguel Cabrera’s groin pull is much improved and manager Brad Ausmus says he could get on the exercise bike.

JaCoby Jones is eligible to come off the DL on May 3^rd, and could play some games in the minors before his 10 days on the DL are done.

J.D. Martinez is progressing as he is doing some running on that sprained ankle, but will need more time on a rehab assignment down in Lakeland once he can run normally again.  Martinez could be back as early as next week too, as the Tigers hope to get back to full strength by the end of their homestand.

Tigers Pound M’s

The Tigers started a 10-game home stand on Tuesday with a 19-9 win over the Mariners. James McCann, Justin Upton and Alex Avila homered for Detroit.   The Tigers added nine runs in the fifth.  Felix Hernandez allowed four runs in two and Seattle's next two pitchers fared even worse. Detroit finished with 24 hits. Mikie Mahtook added another home run for the Tigers in the eighth.  Ian Kinsler had four hits and four runs before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh.  Jordan Zimmermann allowed five runs in six innings but raised his record to 2- 1. Daniel Norris starts tonight…. 6:45 on 95.3 WBCK.

NBA Playoffs

The Houston Rockets finished off the Oklahoma City Thunder in game five with a 105-99 win.  Houston moves to the next round.

The Jazz beat the Clippers 96-92 in L.A to take a 3-2 series lead.

San Antonio beat Memphis 116-103 to lead 3 games to 2.

The Hawks and Wizards are tied at two games apiece.  Atlanta plays at Washington tonight.

Boston and Chicago are tied at two games apiece and play tonight in Boston.

The Toronto Raptors take a three-games-to-two lead over the Bucks to Milwaukee on Thursday.

ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs

The Kalamazoo Wings season came to an end in Toledo as the Walleye won the deciding game 7 of their series 3-1. gone to the home team.

AHL Calder Cup Playoffs

The Grand Rapids Griffins have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Central Division Semifinals and play the Admirals in Milwaukee tonight.

NHL Playoffs

Second round playoff action starts tonight, with Nashville at St. Louis and Edmonton at Anaheim.

The Washington Capitals host Pittsburgh on Thursday.

The Ottawa Senators host the Rangers on Thursday.

MSU Coach Denies Reports 

MSU football coach Mark Dantonio says on Twitter that a SpartanNation.com report that two more players had left his football program is not true.  A team spokesperson says the report stating Robert Bowers and Vayante Copeland are no longer with the program is not true.

Dale Earnhardt Jr to Retire

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is retiring as a NASCAR driver at the end of the season.  Earnhardt Jr. says he wants to go out on his own terms.  Earnhardt missed much of the 2016 season due to concussion-like symptoms, and he acknowledged Tuesday that the time off played a role in his decision.

Softball

Pennfield swept Marshall, 11-8 and 16-15.   A seven run seventh pulled out the game two win.

Lakeview swept Battle Creek Central, 17-2 and 16-0.

Climax Scotts and Colon split a pair.  The Panthers won 3-2 and Colon won the nightcap 8-3.

High School Baseball

Lakeview swept Battle Creek Central, 12-1 and 15-0.

Bellevue and St. Philip split; the Broncos winning 3-1.  The Tigers win 9-2.

Quincy and Union City split a pair.  The Chargers winning game two, 5-0.

Girls’ Tennis

Harper Creek 6, Pennfield 2.

St. Joseph 6, Lakeview 2.

Parma Western 5, Marshall 3.

Track and Field

Lakeview 118, Battle Creek Central 45.

Girl’s Track and Field

Lakeview 125, Battle Creek Central 34.5.

Harper Creek 97, Coldwater 66.

College Basketball in Detroit

Little Caesars Arena is set for its college basketball debut, with Michigan facing Detroit and Michigan State playing Oakland on Dec. 16.  Michigan State coach Tom Izzo hopes the Big Ten chooses to play a men's basketball tournament in the Motor City, which is midway between the conference's most distant schools — Nebraska and Rutgers.

Peterson Signs with Saints

Running back Adrian Peterson has accepted a two-year deal with the New Orleans Saints after playing his first 10 NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. Peterson has played just 21 games over the last three seasons.

Michigan Football in Italy

Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh and his players were part of a paintball contest Tuesday in Italy and after lunch, went to the beach and went kayaking.  The Wolverines visited  Rome  and are expected to go to the Vatican  this week. They will close the unique trip with three practices. After that,  the players will be free to study and travel overseas or simply to return home to work out and take classes.