Valencia entered Tuesday's 19-9 loss to the Tigers in the third inning after Mitch Haniger (oblique) exited and went 2-for-2 with a solo home run, two walks and two runs.
Perhaps getting in some unexpected at-bats was just what the doctor ordered for the struggling veteran, who smacked his first homer of the season off Jordan Zimmermann in the fifth, a 404-foot laser to left, and who reached safely in all four plate appearances overall. It was precisely the type of showing that Valencia needed but has proven all too rare for him thus far in Seattle, a pivotal factor in the call-up of Dan Vogelbach from Triple-A Tacoma on Sunday.