--RF Brennan Boesch added two hits on Thursday and is one of the few Tigers who has hit well consistently from the beginning of the season. Boesch doubled and singled while working on an on-base streak now approaching three weeks. His first-inning double, a liner to right, came on a low 1-and-2 slider that probably would have struck him out in the second half of last season.

--RHP Brad Penny wasted a 2-0 lead the again-slumping Detroit offense could not add to. Penny had an excellent curve and used it extensively, but one of them was too high and went for a solo home run by C Miguel Olivo that gave Seattle a 4-2 lead. "Everything they hit fell," said Penny, who gave up nine hits in seven innings with only one walk. "The one huge mistake was the curveball I hung to Olivo. That one I could have hit, as a pitcher." Said manager Jim Leyland: "Penny did a workmanlike job. It wasn't a great performance, but it certainly wasn't a bad performance. He kept us in there."

--CF Austin Jackson went hitless in three games against Seattle and looks to be right back in another slump. With five hits in three games against the Chicago White Sox during the weekend it appeared Jackson was about to break out, but Seattle pitchers threw fastballs right by him and sneaked in good breaking balls to keep him off balance. Manager Jim Leyland's options for a replacement are limited and he continues to insist Jackson will keep playing and be fine.

--RHP Jose Valverde got some needed work in with an inning of relief. It wasn't perfect but it was scoreless. It was simply a tune-up inning to keep him sharp for this weekend at Cleveland. There were no save opportunities as Seattle swept three games from Detroit, piling up sizeable leads in each.

--RHP Ryan Perry's tune-up inning turned into something he needs to tune out. Perry's job in the eighth was to keep Seattle within striking distance at 4-2 but he served up a two-out, three-run home run that barely got over the right field fence near the line. It was the first home run hit by INF Luis Rodriguez since 2009. Perry walked DH Adam Kennedy intentionally before the 2-and-2 slider went out.

--2B Will Rhymes ended an 0-for-11 slide with a fifth-inning single and also walked twice as he took advantage of playing time that is dwindling away. "He's in one of those streaks where it looks like there's seven outfielders out there," manager Jim Leyland said. "I actually think he's hit the ball pretty decent. Earlier, he couldn't buy a hit." Said Rhymes: "Yeah, it's been frustrating so far. ... I'm in a run where I just haven't caught any breaks. It seems like there are more than nine people on the field for sure." His playing time has been reduced with LF/2B Ryan Raburn being shifted back to the infield on a semi-regular basis, even against some right-handed pitchers, so Leyland can get an extra outfield bat in his lineup. "I know I'm a good hitter," Rhymes said. "The vast majority of the time I've been a good hitter. I've had 10,000 at-bats, and I'm not going to let 50 convince me I'm not."

--C Alex Avila, drafted out of the University of Alabama by the Tigers, heard from a friend that the neighborhood he lived in while a student was part of the tornado devastation. "My friend who works with the baseball team there rode out the storm in the baseball stadium, which didn't get hit," said Avila, drafted after his junior season. "He said everyone with the team is fine. We know many of the same people, but a lot of guys lost their homes and their cars. When he was at the baseball stadium, he could see the tornado coming down near the basketball arena and the football complex. He said it was headed straight to the baseball stadium and would have gone through the right-field wall, but then it kind of turned right and missed the stadium. One of the players rode it out in a house a teammate of mine used to rent. He was in a bathtub with a mattress over his head. All that was left after the storm was the foundation of the house and the bathtub. If he had gone to other bathroom in the house, who knows what would happened. The three-bedroom house we rented, and the neighborhood where we lived is completely gone. Just leveled, there's nothing left. I'm told I would not recognize the area. One of the players was in his truck when I called. He said he was on his way to picking up a shovel and an ax to help clear the debris."

--2B Carlos Guillen resumed hitting this week and has returned to running in his efforts to come back from microfracture left knee surgery and get back with the Tigers. Trainer Kevin Rand reported Guillen is making slow but steady improvement as he works with a physical therapist and could get more baseball-related activities in the coming week. He had surgery last September but soreness in the knee stopped his progress early in spring training.

--The Tigers will make a rare bus trip to and from Cleveland for their weekend series against the Indians. Detroit's team plane is in use by the NHL Red Wings, both franchises owned by Mike Ilitch, but the Tigers had planned to bus anyway. They haven't bussed in years but this series, and another later in the season, is sandwiched by games in Detroit. "I'm really looking forward to it," manager Jim Leyland said. "It makes a lot of sense. I think it's a great idea. By the time you get packed up here and get out to the airport, get in and get bussed over to the hotel, (it takes about the same amount of time). Last year, one time I drove home from Cleveland and I was back at the ballpark before the bus (from the airport) was. It brings you back to your roots a little bit, the Minor Leagues, being on the bus with the guys. It's kind of neat, like the old days. I think it's smart, myself."

BY THE NUMBERS
13 -- At-bats without a hit for CF Austin Jackson while Detroit was losing three games to Seattle. Jackson had five hits while Detroit was sweeping Chicago during the weekend.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"One of the players rode it out in a house a teammate of mine used to rent. He was in a bathtub with a mattress over his head. All that was left after the storm was the foundation of the house and the bathtub. If he had gone to other bathroom in the house, who knows what would happened. The three-bedroom house we rented, and the neighborhood where we lived is completely gone. Just leveled, there's nothing left. I'm told I would not recognize the area." -- C Alex Avila, drafted by Detroit out of the University of Alabama, after talking with a friend at the site of the tornado devastation in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

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