When the Tigers placed Alex Avila on the disabled list, they wanted him to get away from baseball entirely for a week, shut everything down.

He stayed at home during the last road trip, prompting Jim Leyland to teasingly note that Avila was sitting at home "eating Twinkies and watching 'Days of Our Lives.' "

"He feels good, but he hasn’t done anything, so I don’t know what to tell you. He’s done absolutely nothing since we left. I don’t know what the plan is for him today. I assume he’ll get out there and move around a little bit, but I don’t really know what to tell you. When you sit around, you normally don’t hurt. But, when you go out and try to do something, you might," Leyland said before Friday's game. "So, I don’t know what to expect, but I think he’s going to start doing some things. He’ll take it easy, but do some things to see how it’s coming along. We’d like to shoot for (a return by next weekend's series vs.) Pittsburgh, but I don’t know if that’s going to be possible or not. A lot of positive stuff has to happen before that."

Avila took batting practice before the game, and threw — basically doing everything he normally would before a game — but didn't seem to have any problems. 

"It's a lot better than sitting on the couch," Avila said, when asked how it felt. "It was driving me crazy, really. I definitely have a better appreciation for Skip and the coaches that have to sit and watch. I was more nervous watching than I ever have been playing just because I wanted them to win."