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Tigers, Pirates open with little fanfare

It's been a long time since a Detroit Tigers opener was met with such little fanfare.

Ever since the Tigers made the World Series in 2006, there have been high expectations for the team and Opening Day was an automatic sellout.

There were still good seats available this week for the Tigers' opener against Pittsburgh on Thursday, and with good reason. The franchise has gone into full rebuild mode and its usual ace led Houston to a World Championship last fall.

Rather than Justin Verlander taking the mound, new Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire chose Jordan Zimmermann, who has struggled mightily in his two years in Detroit.