DETROIT (AP) — Dillon Dingler homered, Framber Valdez pitched six shutout innings and the Detroit Tigers ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in their home opener on Friday.
Detroit has a .667 regular-season winning percentage (34-17) against the Cardinals — their highest mark against any team — but the Cardinals have a 2-1 advantage in World Series matchups. St. Louis beat the Tigers in 1934 and 2006, with Detroit winning in 1968.
Valdez (1-0) allowed three hits and two walks in his home debut for Detroit. Three relievers finished the game.
Michael McGreevy (0-1) allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Riley Greene hit a one-out double in the fourth and Dingler broke the scoreless tie with a 433-foot homer over the Cardinals bullpen in left-center.
Greene then hit an RBI single with two out in the fifth to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead, and Javier Báez drove in Parker Meadows to add a fourth run in the sixth.
The Tigers nearly took the lead in the third inning. Báez singled and stole second before trying to score on a single from Gleyber Torres to right. However, Jordan Walker's throw reached the plate on the fly, allowing Iván Herrera to apply the tag.
The Cardinals loaded the bases with two out in the fourth, but José Fermín flew out to left.
The game-time temperature was 71 degrees, making it the warmest home opener since the Tigers moved to Comerica Park in 2000.
The teams play the second game of their weekend series on Saturday afternoon, with Tigers RHP Jack Flaherty (0-1, 4.15) facing RHP Dustin May (0-1, 13.50).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Michael McGreevy throws against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, April 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Detroit Tigers' Dillon Dingler hits a two-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning of a baseball game at Comerica Park Friday, April 3, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Seattle (AP) — When tourists travel to Seattle, it’s common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound.
It’s an itinerary that a newly arrived pod of killer whales appears to be following too.
Three orcas that had not previously been recorded in the Seattle area have delighted whale watchers with several visits just off downtown this past month. They've also cruised by other shorelines in the region.
“People ... are all very happy to see this,” said Hongming Zheng, who photographs whales in his spare time. It took him 10 hours of driving to find the mysterious pod. “It was epic.”
Researchers keep detailed records of killer whales that frequent the Salish Sea, the waters between Washington state and Canada, by identifying their fins and saddle patches — the grayish markings on their sides.
So it was a surprise when this pod of three orcas showed up in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March. The three weren’t in any catalogs of local whales.
After some digging, researchers located photos of the pod in Alaska waters last year, said Shari Tarantino of the Washington-based Orca Conservancy. The pod includes an adult female and what are believed to be her two offspring, including a large young adult male.
They have now been designated as T419, T420 and T421 — the T standing for “transient,” not “tourist.”
The visiting orcas have something that local whales don’t: circular scars left by cookie-cutter sharks, which latch on to larger animals and slice a chunk off them. It was evidence they've spent time in the open ocean, because that's where the sharks live.
“We don’t know their exact origin with 100% certainty yet, but the leading hypothesis is that they’re from Alaska, possibly the Aleutian region, given their appearance and the fact that some Alaskan populations range widely across the North Pacific,” Tarantino wrote in an email.
As for why these three are thousands of miles from their home range? Tarantino said it's possible they're on a culinary field trip. This pod feeds on sea mammals — unlike the endangered salmon-eating resident orcas — and there are plenty of harbor seals, sea lions and porpoises in the Salish Sea.
“They have quickly become a crowd favorite,” Tarantino wrote. “People spend a lifetime hoping to see a killer whale from shore, and these three have more than delivered.”
A killer whale swims in Elliott Bay in front of the downtown Seattle skyline on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The orca is a part of a pod that had not been recorded by researchers in this region until this past month when three whales appeared in waters off British Columbia and Washington state. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)
