Avila returns, will be watched closely by Tigers

DETROIT -- Alex Avlia returned to the Tigers' lineup Sunday night after missing a day with what team officials termed a mild concussion after taking a David Ortiz backswing to the helmet on Friday night. Still, everyone from manager Brad Ausmus to the team medical staff indicated they'll be keeping an eye on him.

When Avila took a foul tip that knocked him out of a game last August in Cleveland, he cleared a doctor's examination, passed concussion tests, flew to the next stop on the road trip and returned to action for a full game before the worst of the symptoms emerged the next day, three days after the actual injury. That forced him onto the concussion DL for just over two weeks.

"He had what's called delayed onset symptoms," head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said Saturday. "Obviously, we have to keep an eye on that."

Avila indicated Sunday he's feeling fine, with no lingering effects.