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." Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Authentic . "Right now were kind of looking at him at the end of the rotation right now," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "Not indicative of how hes doing or how hes feeling. Its just, it seems like the spot we want him right now. Wholesale Red Sox Jerseys . It was well worth the wait. Manning and the Denver Broncos waited eight long months, then another 33 minutes to get the season started because of a lightning storm. http://www.cheapredsoxjerseys.com/.J. -- New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is going to start the off-season training program with a surgically repaired left ankle. Cheap Red Sox Jerseys China . The whole deflation of New England Patriots footballs is like a murder mystery without the violence or significance. On one side, this is a ridiculous issue. Cheap MLB Jerseys .? It was his second straight start for the Jets; he suffered a 1-0 loss against Minnesota Monday. So this season Hutchinson has now won games in the ECHL, AHL and NHL. He was perfect three- for-three in the shootout to nail down the win.Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Nicolas Deslauriers, Zemgus Girgensons and Chris Stewart scored in the third period to pull Buffalo out of a 3-0 hole and the Sabres snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night. Buffalos goals, highlighted by Girgensons short-handed tally, came in a span of 5:12 in the period. Stewart tied the score with 8:09 remaining. Jhonas Enroth made 33 saves in the win, including 17 after the second period, then stopped two shots in the shootout after the first Islanders skater fired wide. He improved to 5-0 in shootouts this season. The Islanders placed goaltender Jaroslav Halak on injured reserve Saturday with a lower-body injury and recalled Kevin Poulin from the AHLs Bridgeport Sound Tigers to make his first appearance in the NHL this season. Poulin made 17 saves in the first two periods, then allowed three goals on six shots in the third. John Tavares had two goals in the loss and Nick Leddy scored one. Tavares made one too many moves as the last skater in the shootout and Enroth stopped him with his right pad. Final Score: Detroit 3, Ottawa 2 (OT) Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Gustav Nyquist finished off a dominant shift with the game-winning goal late in overtime to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Nyquist cycled around the offensive with excellent puck protection for 28 seconds and beat Craig Anderson with a wrist shot from the left circle with 48 seconds remaining in the extra session to give Detroit the win. Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist, Justin Abdelkader also scored and Niklas Kronwall supplied two helpers for the Red Wings, who have won two straight on the heels of a six-game losing streak. Jimmy Howard turned aside 31 shots in his return from a groin injury. Mike Hoffman and Clarke MacArthur each scored for the Senators, who have lost three in a row. Anderson made 24 stops in defeat. Final Score: Tampa Bay 2, Carolina 1 Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Make if 5-for-5 for Ben Bishop against the Hurricanes. Bishop stopped 25 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning got goals from Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn in a 2-1 victory over Carolina on Saturday. Bishop has five wins in as many career starts against Carolina. He took a shutout into the third period until Andrej Sekera lit the lamp on a wrister from just inside the blue line with 5:56 remaining. Cam Ward made 36 saves for the Hurricanes, who lost for the third time in four contests. They lost at Tampa Bay by the same score Dec. 11. Final Score: NY Rangers 3, New Jersey 1 New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Derek Stepan registered his third career hat trick as the red-hot New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. Stepan had a short-handed and power-play goal before sealing the Rangers season-high eighth straight victory by scoring into an empty net with 55 seconds left in the game. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 19-of-20 shots in his 600th career game. Cory Schneider made 25 saves and Steve Bernier scored for the Devils, who played their first game since head coach Peter DeBoer was fired on Friday. New Jersey president and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced before Saturdays game that he will go behind the bench with Adam Oates and Scott Stevens. Oates will handle the forwards and Stevens will oversee the defense. The Devils have dropped three straight and eight of nine overall. Final Score: Columbus 6, Boston 2 Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Scott Hartnell tallied twice in his return from injury, while Kevin Connauton added a goal and two assists, as Columbus used a strong second period to claim a 6-2 victory over Boston at Nationwide Arena. Nick Foligno, Matt Calvert and Jeremy Morin also lit the lamp for the Blue Jackets, who improved to 9-1-1 in the month of December. Jack Johnson and Brandon Dubinsky each chipped in a pair of helpers to back a 26- save effort from Curtis McElhinney. Patrice Bergeron and Craig Cunningham scored for the Bruins, who had taken three of their last four coming in. Niklas Svedberg and Tuukka Rask both allowed three goals on 15 shots. Final Score: Winnipeg 4, Minnesota 3 (OT) St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - After a back-and-forth third period, a fortunate bounce helped Winnipeg top Minnesota 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. Andrew Ladds shot went way over the net, but the puck caromed off the glass into the crease. Minnesota goalie John Curry backed up looking for the puck and knocked it into the net to end the game. The Jets also received goals from Bryan Little, Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler to win their fourth game out of their last five. Michhael Hutchinson made 22 saves on 25 shots in the victory.dddddddddddd Curry stopped 19-of-23 shots in goal for Minnesota after Darcy Kuemper was ruled out with an illness. Goals from Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek were not enough to keep the Wild from losing their fifth straight game. The two teams will conclude the home-and-home set in Winnipeg on Monday. Final Score: Washington 3, Pittsburgh 0 Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Eric Fehr scored twice and the Washington Capitals blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-0, on Saturday. Fehr opened the scoring with a goal late in the first period and put the game away with Washingtons third marker midway through the third. Marcus Johansson also scored for the Capitals, winners in four of five. Braden Holtby posted his third shutout of the season and second in the last four games, stopping all 31 shots he faced. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves for Pittsburgh, which lost its third straight game. Final Score: Dallas 4, St. Louis 3 St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Defensemen Trevor Daley and Jason Demers scored power-play goals in the second period as the Dallas Stars edged the St. Louis Blues 4-3 at Scottrade Center. Travis Moen and Ryan Garbutt both had first-period goals for Dallas, which has won six of its last eight games. Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves in the Stars first victory over a Central Division opponent this season (1-7-3). Vladimir Tarasenko netted his 21st goal of the season for the Blues, who suffered their fourth straight loss. David Backes and Alex Pietrangelo also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 20-of-24 shots. Final Score: Nashville 4, Philadelphia 1 Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Pekka Rinne stopped 26 shots and Nashville pumped home three power-play goals to fuel a 4-1 decision over Philadelphia at Bridgestone Arena. Colin Wilson scored twice and Filip Forsberg and Mike Fisher once each for thePredators, who have won six of their last eight. Roman Josi contributed two assists to the winning side. Claude Giroux provided the sole offense for the Flyers, who had won the first three outings on their current eight-game road trip. Ray Emery surrendered three goals on 37 shots in defeat. Final Score: Arizona 2, Anaheim 1 (SO) Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Captains are expected to produce in big situations, but this seemed out of Shane Doans control. Doan broke his stick, but was the only skater to score in a four-round shootout as the Arizona Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 on Saturday night, knocking off the NHLs top team in a goofy ending. The blade of Doans stick snapped off as he fired a shot at Frederik Andersen, who got a piece of the splintered wood with his shoulder but whiffed on the puck as it trickled -- tamely -- past his left pad and inside the goal post. Final Score: Chicago 5, Colorado 2 Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Patrick Kane tallied two goals and an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2, on Saturday. Brandon Saad, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp all scored and Jonathan Toews supplied two assists for the Blackhawks, who bounced back from a 5-1 loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday. Corey Crawford turned aside 23-of-25 shots. Nathan MacKinnon and Erik Johnson each lit the lamp and Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 32 shots for the Avalanche, who had a three-game winning streak come to an end. Final Score: Calgary 4, Edmonton 1 Calgary, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Johnny Gaudreau remained red-hot, scoring twice as the Calgary Flames opened a six-game homestand with a 4-1 win over the lowly Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. Gaudreaus two goals came after he got his first career hat trick in Calgarys last game, a 4-3 overtime win at Los Angeles on Monday. He has six goals in the last three games. Joe Colborne and Curtis Glencross also scored for the Flames, who have won twice this week on the heels of an eight-game losing streak. Jonas Hiller made 26 saves in the win. The NHL-worst Oilers have lost nine in a row (0-7-2) and 20 of their last 21 (1-14-6). Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored their only goal 4:23 into the third period. Final Score: Los Angeles 3, San Jose 1 Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Anze Kopitar finished with a goal and an assist to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-1 victory over the in-state rival San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Tyler Toffoli and Jake Muzzin also scored and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Kings, who have won three of their last four games. Joe Pavelski netted San Joses lone goal and Antti Niemi stopped 26 shots in defeat. The Sharks entered the game 9-1-1 over their last 11 contests. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '