As the sun sets on day one of spring training for the Detroit Tigers, a haze of a bittersweet victory looms. The Tigers (1-0) defeated the Atlanta Braves (0-1) in their first game since the end of last season. The score, 5-4, was far from ideal in that a lot of questions still remain.

The concern all offseason had been the Tigers and the pitching staff being able to get back on course. With one win under their belts, the concern is more prevalent than it was before.

The Tigers' pitching was phenomenal for the first four innings. Justin Verlander provided two innings of one-hit ball, followed by Zach Miner pitching two scoreless innings of his own.

After four innings, the Tigers were leading comfortably, 3-0. But the two-headed monster that is the Tigers bullpen then took to the field. Over the next five innings, five Tiger pitchers gave up four runs.

In the fifth inning, the ball was handed to new acquisition Brandon Lyon, the Tigers new closer. In one inning of work Lyon managed to give up three hits, a walk and three unearned runs.

After a rather tumultuous year with Todd Jones as the closer, this was not a good sign for the Tiger faithful.

Bobby Seay pitched a perfect sixth inning, striking out all three of the Braves that he faced. Eddie Bonine gave up a home run to Jordan Schafer in the seventh inning.

Taiwanese import, Fu-Te Ni, was surprisingly good, retiring all three batters that he faced in the eighth inning, on only six pitches, to earn the win. Kyle Bloom, a Rule V pick, struck out two hitters in his perfect ninth, recording a save.

While the disappointing debut of Brandon Lyon was the top story, the apparent reemergence of Justin Verlander is quite intriguing. Verlander looked strong in his two innings, not allowing a ball out of the infield.

If Verlander can return to the form that went 18-6, with 183 strikeouts, in 2007, the Tigers could be a dark horse World Series contender, again. But that is much easier said than done. For now, it looks as if he has his swagger back, and the Braves saw that first hand.

Bobby Seay, Zach Miner, Fu-Te Ni, and Kyle Bloom all pitched well, which is a plus for a Tiger bullpen that had a year to forget in 2008. The Lyon situation will be interesting to watch, but there was a silver lining to the pitching in Lakeland on Wednesday.

The MVP off the mound was undoubtedly Bobby Seay, as he struck out the side in the sixth. A command over his pitches suggested that he has been hard at work this offseason, but it is only one game.

The suspect relief pitching was the key focus of Tiger critics in this game, but the hitting was nothing to smile at either.

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