March 31: The season opened with a 6–3 loss in New York's Yankee Stadium. Justin Verlander gave up three runs in six innings, but former Tiger Curtis Granderson broke a 3–3 tie in the seventh inning with a two-run home run off reliever Phil Coke. April 2: Newly acquired C/DH Víctor Martínez hit his first home run in a Tiger uniform, but starter Brad Penny, another off-season acquisition, surrendered eight runs in innings as the Tigers fell to the Yankees again, 10–6. April 3: The Tigers earned their first victory of the season in a 10–7 slugfest over the Yankees that featured two home runs by Miguel Cabrera and another by Brennan Boesch. April 6: Justin Verlander picked up his first win of the season as the Tigers defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 7–3. Catcher Alex Avila hit a home run and drove in a career-high five runs. April 11: The Tigers fell to 3–7 on the season with a 2–0 loss to the Texas Rangers, who went to 9–1 with the win. Justin Verlander pitched a complete game, but was outdueled by the Rangers' Alexi Ogando. April 12: Detroit rebounded with a 5–4 win against Texas when Miguel Cabrera hit a walk-off bases-loaded single with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning. April 13: Brandon Inge hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Tigers their second straight walk-off win, a 3–2 decision over the Rangers. April 16: Miguel Cabrera hit a game-tying solo home run in the top of the ninth, and the Tigers scored seven runs in the top of the tenth inning to win their first extra-inning game of the season, 8–4 over the Oakland Athletics. The victory was the 1,500th in manager Jim Leyland's major league career. The victory also put the Tigers (7–7) at the .500 mark for the first time this season. April 22: Ryan Raburn hit a home run and collected four RBIs in a 9–3 victory over the Chicago White Sox to help Justin Verlander even his record at 2–2, and get the Tigers back to .500 at 10–10. Verlander fanned A. J. Pierzynski for his 1,000th career strikeout. April 24: Max Scherzer threw eight shutout innings in a 3–0 victory over the White Sox, as the Tigers completed a three-game sweep over their AL Central rivals. May 1: The Tigers were swept by