Tigers

I assumed I had seen it all with Liberty Mutual. Once you learn about the chief executive's $50 million-a-year compensation package, the fleet of corporate jets, the $90,000 flights to Hawaii, the tens of millions of dollars for senior managers, the board of directors that doesn't feel the need to utter one public word of explanation, what more can there be? But as we've seen, there's always more, a fact that was never more apparent than when I was flipping through a mound of permit applications, building records, and engineering drawings on file in the Boston Inspectional Services...

NEW DELHI - A state in western India has declared war on animal poaching by allowing forest guards to shoot hunters on sight in an effort to curb rampant attacks on tigers and other wildlife. The government in Maharashtra said injuring or killing suspected poachers will no longer be considered a crime. Forest guards should not be "booked for human rights violations when they have taken action against poachers," Maharashtra's forest minister, Patangrao Kadam, said Tuesday.

As no-hit bids go, this one was proceeding almost predictably. Justin Verlander was commanding his pitches brilliantly on the mound. An overmatched Pittsburgh lineup looked powerless against him. Then, with only two outs separating the Detroit ace from yet another rare achievement, Verlander threw a breaking ball just off the outside corner, and Josh Harrison hit a soft line drive to center field for a single. "Would I rather it be hard-hit? Of course," Verlander said.

Jason Kipnis left his flesh and blood on home plate as he scored the go-ahead run against the Tigers. The Cleveland Indians, with Kipnis diving across the dirt to score on a throwing error by Detroit first baseman Prince Fielder in the eighth inning, scraped out a 4-2 win Wednesday night. Kipnis had three hits, rubbed his right arm raw as he broke a 2-2 tie, and said the Indians couldn't help but feel the emotion of a second straight win over the defending AL Central champions to guarantee winning the three-game series.

BRAINTREE - Lynn Tech's outstanding defensive performance propelled the Tigers past Tri-County, 29-7, yesterday for its second Massachusetts Vocational Super Bowl title in three years. "This is the second time I got to play in a Bowl game," said Lynn Tech's Pedro Martinez. "It's exciting. It's my last year so I had to go out with a bang. " Martinez (91 yards on 12 carries, 2 touchdowns) broke through the pile and ran 47 yards to put the Tigers on the 3-yard-line on the fourth play of the game.

The scoreboard reflected a tie game Tuesday, but the one-way play on the turf at Milton High showcased why the Newton North High School girls' soccer team sits atop the Bay State Conference's Carey Division. Newton North senior Holly Szafran had shifted from center field to left wing, and as she collected a pass, freshman Anna Nesgos broke free from the defense and ran free waiting for the ball. Szafran, however, launched a 25-yard shot that sailed high and wide of the net. "Better decisions, Holly," yelled assistant coach Amanda Tsetsi.

Mike Maroth pitched a one-hitter, Ivan Rodriguez had a two-run double in a five-run fifth, and the Tigers matched their win total from last season with an 8-0 victory over the New York Yankees last night in Detroit. Gary Sheffield's double in the fourth was the lone hit against Maroth, and Sheffield was the only Yankees base runner to reach second. Yankees All-Star Javier Vazquez (10-6) gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings in his worst outing since giving up seven runs May 6 at Oakland.

Harvard coach Tim Murphy knew Thursday morning he was going to start Collier Winters at quarterback. The move caught Princeton by surprise. Winters had been out since the season opener against Holy Cross with a hamstring injury and between the four touchdowns Colton Chapple threw two weeks ago against Cornell and the school-record-tying five he threw last week against Bucknell, the Tigers had every reason to prepare for Chapple. Princeton defensive end Mike Catapano even assumed that it was Chapple's job. "Obviously, we were expecting the starter, Chapple," he said.

The Detroit Tigers beat up New York pitching for the second time in three days, and left town with a series win over the Yankees for the first time in eight years. Carlos Guillen had three hits, including a three-run homer, and the Tigers pounded rookie Brad Halsey in a 10-8 victory yesterday at Yankee Stadium. Detroit built a 10-3 lead by the sixth inning and took two of three from the Yankees, who have lost five of six to the Mets and Tigers since sweeping the Red Sox last week.

NEW YORK - Ivan Rodriguez was the steady hand for the Florida Marlins when they won the 2003 World Series. A year later, he was the spark that helped turn around the Detroit franchise when nobody wanted to be a Tiger. The New York Yankees hope he can be a little of both during their push to the playoffs. The Yankees acquired the 14-time All-Star from the Tigers yesterday in exchange for hard-throwing reliever Kyle Farnsworth, a trade that filled glaring holes for both contenders.

The stadium scoreboard flashed 102 mph, drawing a gasp from the crowd. With one purposeful pitch, Justin Verlander unleashed all the pent-up frustration simmering inside the Detroit Tigers. Their season isn't going as planned. Rocked for a home run on his third pitch, Verlander suffered a rare loss to Cleveland as the Indians beat the Cy Young winner and the underperforming Tigers 2-1 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep and drop Detroit six games back in the AL Central.

Justin Masterson matched Justin Verlander pitch for pitch for first his career win over Detroit, and the first-place Cleveland Indians did just enough to beat the reigning AL MVP 2-1 Thursday and complete a three-game sweep of the underperforming Tigers. Shin-Soo Choo homered on the third pitch from Verlander (5-2) as the Indians won for the eighth time in 10 games and opened a six-game lead over third-place Detroit in the AL Central. Detroit has dropped six of eight, and manager Jim Leyland was ejected in the fifth inning.

When the bullpen door swung open, Chris Perez braced himself. After criticizing Cleveland's fans for failing to support the first-place Indians, Perez wasn't sure what to expect when he came in for the ninth inning with another game on the line. As he entered the field, there was only one sound. The roar carried him. "That's the loudest I've ever been cheered here," Perez said after earning his 14th save in Cleveland's 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. "It didn't go unnoticed, trust me. I'm humbled.

The trouble with trying to measure the progress of Tiger Woods is that by his own definition, he never really gets there. Even when he was at his best, Woods always thought he could get better. So while winning tournaments is the goal, that's not always the best gauge. Woods preached patience two weeks ago at The Players Championship when he said, "Guys, I've done this before. I've been through this. … I had some pretty good runs after that, and this is no different. " He then tied for 40th at Sawgrass for the worst three-tournament stretch of his...

Max Scherzer headed off the mound and toward the dugout, where manager Jim Leyland was waiting to offer a congratulatory handshake. After 15 strikeouts in seven innings, Scherzer's day was done, and the only question was whether the Detroit right-hander's fine effort would go to waste. "We're in this business to win," Scherzer said. And win the Tigers did. Alex Avila's tiebreaking, two-run single highlighted a three-run seventh that sent Detroit to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Drew Smyly is finally facing a bit of a bugaboo after a promising start to his rookie season. The last two times he's taken the mound, the young left-hander has given up a pair of two-run homers in each outing. Andrew McCutchen did the damage Saturday, going deep twice to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 win over Smyly and the Detroit Tigers. "He got the ball up a little bit too much and he paid for it," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "Both the balls to McCutchen were way up. " A day after Detroit's Justin Verlander took a...

DETROIT - It was death by Q-tips. An excuse-me, checked-swing roller. An error by shortstop Julio Lugo, who lost his juggler's license when he failed to transfer a slow-hit tapper from his glove to his bare hand. A sacrifice bunt that rolled 10 feet, tops, from home plate. A tying ground ball by Curtis (0 for 6) Granderson that wheezed its way to second base. A broken-bat floater over Lugo's head, the batter, Placido Polanco, extracting splinters from his hands as he jogged jubilantly down to first base after the last of his five hits on the night brought home the winning run. Tigers 10, Red Sox 9. ...

The Pittsburgh Pirates whiffed their way through another nine innings, but the biggest pitch of the day might have been the one their catcher missed. With runners on first and second in a tie game in the seventh, reliever Tony Watson's fastball handcuffed Rod Barajas. The runners moved up a base, Pittsburgh had to bring the infield in, and Detroit's Alex Avila hit a two-run single up the middle, sending the Tigers to a 4-3 victory Sunday. "They had a runner on second, so I went out to the mound and changed the signs, and then I called that pitch with the old signs," Barajas said.