TORONTO – Brett Lawries impending return from hamstring tightness creates a problem – a good problem – for manager John Gibbons. That is, how does he keep the red hot bat of Juan Francisco in the lineup when first base is taken by Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind is back as the designated hitter? "Maybe Francisco can play second," joked Gibbons. In all seriousness, Francisco has been a revelation for the ballclub since signing a minor league deal on April 2 and arriving in Cleveland to meet his new Blue Jays teammates on April 20. Coming off an 18-home run season split between Atlanta and Milwaukee last year, Franciscos already hit five in 61 at-bats for Toronto. He doesnt get cheated, either, having deposited one in the fourth deck of Rogers Centre, just above Paul Beestons name on the Blue Jays Level of Excellence. Franciscos slash line of .311/.403/.623 (1.026 OPS) is well above his career .248/.308/.447 (.755 OPS) but even if his history suggests his numbers will regress the longer he plays, until it happens, Francisco needs to stay in the lineup. "Right now were looking at everything," said manager John Gibbons. "While hes hot weve got to find a way to keep him in there somehow." The obvious play is to move Brett Lawrie to second base. It doesnt have to be permanent. Lawrie, should the decision be made, hopes its only temporary. "Im going to do it because its for the team but Im not necessarily amazed about it," said Lawrie. "Im a third baseman. Its where I play. Its what Ive been doing. Its what I did to work to get here. Obviously Francisco is swinging a hot bat but were going to have to find another way to get him in the lineup, who knows, but if I do get put at second base thats how it goes. Ill just do it for my team." Look at this hypothetical starting lineup with Francisco at third base and Lawrie at second base: Reyes – SSCabrera – LFBautista – RFEncarnacion – 1BFrancisco – 3BNavarro – CLind – DHLawrie – 3BRasmus – CF One through nine, wheres the easy out? The Blue Jays would be giving something up defensively with the realignment but Francisco has proven to be more adept at third base in Lawries absence than expected. "Ive been very impressed," said Gibbons. "I think that was his rap. His defence was the reason he never really established himself but we havent seen it. Of course hes not Lawrie down there but how many guys are?" Dont count on Saturday being Lawries return date. He took ground balls on Friday afternoon and participated in batting practice for a second consecutive day. Its part of the process of ramping up the effort level, testing his sore right hamstring. "Ive still got to do some other stuff baseball-wise," said Lawrie. "Ive still got to get up to relatively full speed to see how were doing. Ran on the treadmill today at a little bit higher pace so feeling a little bit better." Lawries willing to be a team guy. He also wants the appropriate recognition for his gold glove caliber play at the hot corner. "Im a third baseman," said Lawrie. "I worked my butt off to get where Im at. Im not saying its not going to help the team. Im here to do what it is to help the team but I worked my butt off to be that good at third base and continue to do what Im doing. I work everyday over there. Still continuing to get my work in and second base, it is what it is, man, its not what Im here to do. I worked my butt off to do what I do out there." Jordan Poyer Youth Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. Tremaine Edmunds Youth Jersey . After Mariota was pushed around by Stanford on Thursday, finishing 20/34 with 250 yards and two touchdowns in Oregons Title hope-crushing defeat, hes going to need a poor performance or two from the remaining frontrunners to have a shot at the most coveted individual trophy in college sports. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Elit...n-Bills-Jersey/. -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights. Bruce Smith Youth Jersey . With one penalty, Fourcade finished in 24 minutes, 58.2 seconds, just nine-tenths of a second ahead of Timofey Lapshin, who shot clean in the cold. Dawson Knox Womens Jersey . Brooks replaces right-hander Yordano Ventura, who left his last outing with a sore elbow. Ventura is expected to miss one start. Brooks has made one relief appearance for the Royals this season, allowing six runs in two innings in a May 3 loss to Detroit. RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes havent had much to celebrate lately. Against the New York Rangers, its been years. The Hurricanes changed both story lines Tuesday night with a 3-1 win against the Rangers. Carolina made the most of a goal and assist from both Jordan Staal and Jiri Tlusty to snap a 10-game losing streak against New York. "You have to wake up and just be confident in our game and our system and keep moving forward and looking ahead," Staal said. "The last couple games weve had havent been a great result, but our effort has always been there. Its nice to get a good result." Carolina had lost seven of eight to fall well behind in the Metropolitan Division race. The Hurricanes were outscored 30-16 in that stretch. Elias Lindholm added an insurance goal for Carolina late in the third period. Cam Ward made 24 saves for his first win since Dec. 31. "It has been a struggle for myself," Ward said. "I havent had that much of an opportunity to get back in there. . When you dont play, you put so much emphasis on one game that it can get you thinking too much. Tonight, (I was) just be able to shut it off and have some fun." Kevin Klein had the Rangers goal, scoring for the first time since being acquired from Nashville on Jan. 22. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 shots. "Not that I dont want to give credit to Carolina because they played a good game, but we (gave) away two points because we didnt work," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "I have not said that very often about the group this year, but right from the start, our work ethic wasnt what it needs to be in this league to have any chance." The Rangers had outscored the Hurricanes 40-19 in the teams previous 10 meetings, including a 4-2 road victory on Friday. Before Tuesday, Carolinas last win against the Rangers was Jan. 20, 2011. The Rangers, 8-4-1 in their past 13 games, remained one point ahead of Philadelphia for second place in the Metropolitan Division.dddddddddddd "I think we have to make a lot better decisions with the puck, especially in our own end," forward Derek Stepan said. "Offensively, were a pretty skilled team, but to win hockey games, we have to make sure we do the dirty work in our own end and make good decisions. I felt like tonight we made it a little bit too easy for them to get in front and create chances." Carolina took a 1-0 lead just 33 seconds into the second period. Alexander Semin worked hard to control the puck in the offensive zone, eventually feeding it back to Andrej Sekera at the point. Sekera passed to Staal along the goal line, and Staal slid the puck under defenceman Anton Stralman to Tlusty for a one-timer that beat Lundqvist. New York tied it 1-1 just 3:49 later when Mats Zuccarello found Klein trailing the play on a rush. Klein was open in the slot, and his wrist shot went above Wards left shoulder. Carolina took a 2-1 lead with 1:42 left in the second. Staal outraced Stralman for the puck along the boards in the Rangers zone and knocked it in front of Lundqvist. Tlusty gathered the puck to the right of Lundqvist and fed it back to a wide-open Staal before New Yorks defence could recover. Lindholm finished the scoring with 5:29 remaining off a rebound of Jeff Skinners original shot. "I think we played a really strong 60 minutes of hockey," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "There was still a lot of fighting with these guys. . Hopefully tonight is that big win that we build on." NOTES: Carolinas Jay Harrison played in his 300th NHL game. ... The Hurricanes John-Michael Liles missed his second straight game with an upper body injury. ... Stepan had a six-game point streak snapped. Stepan had one goal and eight assists in that span. ' ' '