Alex Avila gets hit by foul tips more than any catcher manager Jim Leyland has ever seen.

Avila, for his part, insists that he does not have a ball magnet anywhere on his body. You can't prove that, though, especially considering how often he gets nicked.

He got it again in Thursday's game, taking a Mike Sweeney foul tip off his mask in the bottom of the third, a carom that knocked the mask off, and opened a cut on the bridge of his nose. Leyland went out to the plate to check on his catcher, thinking immediately that it wasn't good.

"He was seeing stars. ... I'd never forgive myself if I left him out there, and he keeled over, passed out," Leyland said in his postgame comments on FOX Sports Detroit. "He takes a lot more than I ever remember taking, or seeing anybody else take. ... He takes a beatin' pretty often."

You know it had to be bad, if Avila consented to come out, however. Despite the constant bruising, and tendinitis in both knees, he gutted out 130 starts behind the plate last season, and 141 games in all. 

Avila was removed from the game for precautionary reasons, but did not show any signs of a concussion when examined by a doctor, the team said. He was back in the dugout later in the game, joking around with his manager and the coaching staff.

For his part, though, Avila said after the game that he felt fine.