Baseball

Avila will miss at least one game after being hit by a pitch Sunday. The Tigers are calling him day-to-day, but a stint on the DL can't be ruled out. He finished 2-for-3 with a run scored before exiting.

Avila was hit by a pitch and had to be removed in ninth inning. The severity of the injury isn't yet known, but Tigers should provide an update on his status soon.

Jose Valverde has been shaky lately so Tigers manager Jim Leyland decided to give this one to Benoit, who entered the game in the eighth inning and closed it out with 1 1/3 scoreless frames. Benoit remains a solid stash in standard mixed fantasy leagues.

Dirks hadn't played since Tuesday due to knee soreness. He should be fine physically, but his batting line is down to .245/.299/.348 for the season.

Sanchez was scratched from his last turn in the Detroit rotation due to shoulder stiffness and did not look comfortable in his return to action on Saturday night in Minnesota. The right-hander threw just 72 pitches, 42 of which were strikes, allowing two earned runs on five hits and four walks. He may need some time off.

That's through 181 plate appearances. The jig is clearly up in one-catcher mixed leagues, while Avila's .243/.352/.384 2012 slash offers little hope for players in two-catcher formats. Avila's excellent 2011 ' where he hit .295/.389/.506 ' is looking more and more like the outlier campaign in his five-year career. It wouldn't be stunning if Avila finally started to hit, but there's not a ton of upside in waiting for him to do so.

Rick Porcello and Scott Diamond were engaged in a scoreless pitcher's duel heading into the sixth inning, where Fielder's two-run double broke the game open and provided more than enough support for the Tigers. He's having another excellent season, hitting .289/.390/.536 with 12 homers and 52 RBI.