"In his final start before the season opener Monday, Zach Duke was tagged for eight runs in less than four innings of work, though anywhere between three and five of those could have been averted by more artful defense, as the Pirates lost to the host Detroit Tigers by 8-5 this afternoon.

A fly ball that dropped between a stopped Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen in right-center field ignited a five-run second inning for Detroit. That play followed a pair of singles and produced a 2-0 Tigers lead. That's when a potential inning-ending ground ball was fielded backhand by Bobby Crosby in the hole at shortstop, but his throw bounced to the right of first baseman Jeff Clement, who dropped the backhand attempt to snag it. Another run scored, and the inning and the game got away from Duke (0-2) before 7,628 at Joker Marchant Stadium.

After 6 2/3 shutout innings and two hits permitted to Houston last Friday, Duke yielded nine hits and eight runs -- all earned -- in 3 2/3 innings against Detroit. His spring ERA swelled from 3.00 to 6.27."