Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. "I can

DETROIT -- On a day of dandy Detroit debuts, Alex Gonzalez helped Brad Ausmus start his tenure as Tigers manager with a win. Gonzalez lined an RBI single off Greg Holland in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday in Ausmus first game since replacing Jim Leyland. Victor Martinez homered for Detroit, and Justin Verlander was sharp aside from a three-run fourth inning that wasnt all his fault. "Theres two things that could have spoiled opening day for me," Ausmus said. "One, if we lost. And two, if the sun wasnt out. Because for me opening day, the sun is out, fans are having fun, theyre eating their popcorn, drinking their beer. The energy is higher." Kansas City lost its sixth straight opener. Ausmus was upstaged a bit by another newcomer on a bright, pleasant day in downtown Detroit. Gonzalez was acquired by the Tigers in late March following an injury to shortstop Jose Iglesias. Detroit is just hoping he can fill in competently, and Gonzalez did not impress at first. His error in the fourth helped the Royals score an extra run, but he made up for that with a tying triple in the seventh. Gonzalez then singled with men on first and third in the ninth. "Ive played on a lot of opening days -- I dont even remember all of them -- but this one was special," Gonzalez said. "I was looking for a pitch that I could elevate, and I got one. I rounded first and all I saw was the whole team coming at me." Joe Nathan -- another new face on Detroits roster -- pitched a scoreless ninth. Nathan (1-0) signed with the Tigers to become their closer, but hell have to wait a bit longer for a save opportunity. Holland didnt have a save chance either after converting 47 of 50 last year. Instead, the right-hander came into a difficult situation in the ninth and couldnt get out of it. Wade Davis (0-1) yielded a one-out walk to Alex Avila and a single to Nick Castellanos before Holland allowed the single to Gonzalez. "I get paid to get people out, and I didnt do it today," Holland said. "Were not here to fight and compete. Were here to win." Detroits Tyler Collins made his major league debut as a pinch runner for Avila -- and ended up scoring the winning run. Salvador Perez had four hits for Kansas City. Although there were still a few patches of snow in the Detroit area Monday morning, the game was played under a sunny sky with temperatures in the 50s. With its recently re-sodded field, Comerica Park looked sharp. But the Tigers, coming off three straight AL Central titles, were sloppy at first. Right fielder Torii Hunter dropped a routine flyball in the second, and although Verlander pitched out of that jam, he couldnt escape the fourth. Salvador Perez tied it at 1 with a one-out RBI double off Verlander, and Lorenzo Cain slapped an RBI single through the hole into left field to put Kansas City ahead. After a two-out walk, Gonzalez bobbled Norichika Aokis slow grounder for an error that loaded the bases. Verlander then walked Omar Infante, forcing in Kansas Citys third run of the inning. Verlander had surgery in January after injuring his groin, but he pitched 20 scoreless innings during spring training. He allowed three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in six innings Monday, walking three and striking out two. That was enough for a no-decision. Verlander was making his seventh straight start on opening day, and hes only 1-1 in those games. "I never seem to find a win on opening day, but the bullpen shut them down and we got one anyway. Thats all that matters," Verlander said. "Every opening day is special, but this one meant a little more, because I had to really work and grind to get here for this one after the surgery." With Kansas City ahead 3-1 in the seventh, Austin Jackson hit a one-out triple and Avila drew a walk. Aaron Crow replaced starter James Shields and struck out Castellanos, but the third strike was a wild pitch that allowed Jackson to score. Gonzalez followed with a triple to the gap in left-centre. Shields gave up three runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings. NOTES: Infante received a hand from the Detroit crowd when he was introduced with the Kansas City players before the game. He left the Tigers and signed with the Royals in the off-season. ... The crowd of 45,068 was the second-largest in Comerica history. ... It was the fourth four-hit game of Perezs career. ... The Royals were 67-6 last year when leading by 2 or more runs at any point from the seventh inning on, according to STATS. Cheap Air Max 270 White . -- Jerel Worthy and his Michigan State teammates charged across the field, holding four fingers in the air while celebrating another sweet victory over their biggest rival. Cheap Air Max 95 Wholesale Uk . -- The way Ted Ligety carved into turns looked so easy. http://www.fakeairmaxukoutlet.com/best-max-tn-trainers-cheap-uk.html . Bouchard went down to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Svitolina in her opening match at the Sony Open on Friday. Bouchard got the rivalry going two years ago when she won the junior Wimbledon title over Svitolina. Cheap Air Max 90 Trainers .com) - After Tom Brady added to an already illustrious legacy, Malcolm Butler established his by leaving the Seattle Seahawks, well, deflated. Cheap Air Max 200 . - Andre Drummond had his best night on the boards. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Syracuse was dangerously close to letting another less talented opponent pull off the upset when C.J. Fair took over Sunday. The seventh-ranked Orange had let a sporadic Florida State team rally late in the first half and get within a point in the second. Then Fair got going. The senior forward scored 15 of his 22 points after halftime and led Syracuse to a 74-58 victory in the programs first trip to Florida State. "We saw right away he got it going," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "He had the hot hand. When he gets it, were going to get him the ball. "This was his best offensive game probably since Duke." The Orange, who ended a two-game losing streak, had lost 4 of 5 -- including two to sub-.500 teams -- after starting the season 25-0. They had been ranked No. 1 for three weeks and No. 2 for the previous eight weeks before the losses started piling up. "It was huge for us to get this," Boeheim said. "Last year we went through this and we had lost (three) and went to Georgetown to try to get momentum back and got beat by 35. "Weve struggled to score. We scored the ball. Did a good job on the boards and our defence was good. ... Momentum can be a funny thing. We turned it around last year in one game. You can do that and this will help us." Jerami Grant, who had been bothered by back problems recently, had 16 points and eight rebounds while Tyler Ennis finished with 16 points for Syracuse (27-4, 14-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). Syracuses athleticism was too much for Florida State to handle as the Orange had a 43-24 advantage on the glass, including 17 offensive rebounds. "Im definitely feeling a lot better," Grant said. "I was able to come out and help my team however they needed me to help today. I think that definitely helped us get the victory today." Boeheim said, "Were a completely different team with Jerami Grant. If he wasnt able to go tonight, we wouldnt be very happy right now. Hes key to what we do." Okaro White led Floridda State with 20 points and 10 rebounds to record his fifth double-double of the season.dddddddddddd Fellow senior Ian Miller scored 16 points in his last home game while Aaron Thomas chipped in 14. "Their zone was pretty good today," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "It was a challenge for our guys to execute the things we had in their game plan because they kept making adjustments, and thats what their defence does to you." Syracuse ran away from the Seminoles in the second half behind Fair and two big baskets from Trevor Cooney. A 6-0 Florida State run cut the lead to 47-46, but the Orange answered with a burst that put the game away. Miller forced a bad 3-point attempt and Cooney responded with his first 3-pointer of the game on the following possession. Cooney buried another after a defensive stop and Syracuse went on to an 18-6 run that extended the lead to 65-52. The Florida State offence didnt have enough juice against the Syracuse zone to make another run. The Orange outshot the Seminoles 48.3 per cent to 38.0 per cent. "Every team goes through those rough stretches," Grant said. "We went through a little rough stretch, but were back and were flying just in time for the tournament." White kept the Seminoles in the game during the first half, scoring 14 of Florida States 27 points. He scored 10 consecutive points for Florida State to take an 18-17 lead after a putback. The Orange answered with a 14-2 run that nearly put the Seminoles away before the break. The run was capped by consecutive fast-break layups from Ennis, one part of a three-point play, to go up 31-20. Syracuse was shooting 47 per cent from the field at the time, 11 per cent better than Florida State, and had a 20-10 rebounding advantage. The Seminoles worked the deficit back to single digits with a 7-2 stretch to close the half, highlighted by a tip-dunk off an offensive rebound by White with 1 second left. Syracuse will be the No. 2 seed when the ACC tournament begins March 14 in Greensboro, N.C. ' ' '