Morning Sports for Friday, April 18th

Morning Sports for Friday, April 18th:

MLB: Tigers Outslug Indians
Ian Kinsler’s three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning powered the Tigers to a 7-5 victory over the Indians Thursday. Kinsler drove in an additional run with a single in the sixth. Justin Verlander wasn’t sharp… giving up three runs over five innings… but he earned his second win of the season. Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. Full game details are here. The Tigers open a three-game home set against the Angels tonight. Drew Smyly will make his first start of the season. Jared Weaver will pitch for the Angels.

The Pirates scored three runs in the seventh… and six in the eighth… to bury the Brewers 11-2 Thursday night. The Milwaukee bullpen collapse spoiled a good start by Yovani Gallardo… who gave up two runs on just three hits over six innings. Rob Wooten took the loss… after giving up all three seventh-inning runs. Wei-Chung Wang surrendered all six eighth-inning runs. Full game details are here. That series continues at Pittsburgh tonight. Kyle Lohse will start against Charlie Morton.

Finlandia Baseball Drops Two
The Finlandia University baseball team lost both ends of a doubleheader at Carroll University Thursday. In game one, the Lions hung close through the first three innings… but the Pioneers broke it open with three runs in the fourth, and went on to a 9-5 victory. Gerard Taylor had three hits, drove in two runs, and scored twice for Finlandia. Game one details are here. The second game was never close, as the Lions fell 15-3. Carroll put the game away early, with 13 runs over the first two innings. Game two details are here. The Lions play two at Illinois Tech this afternoon, and another doubleheader at Maranatha Baptist tomorrow.

Red Wings Open Stanley Cup Quest
The Red Wings finally open the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight at Boston. Faceoff is at 7:30 on AM `1400, WCCY. Captain Henrik Zetterberg skated with the team for about 30 minutes yesterday… but avoided any contact. He’s recovering from back surgery… and is not likely to see any action unless Detroit moves into the second round.

To make sure your team’s scores are included in morning sports, send them to mornings@up.net.