NEW YORK – Colby Rasmus returned from a 33-game absence on Wednesday night and manager John Gibbons was eager to get another big bat in the lineup to provide his club a threat near the bottom of the order. “He gives us another power threat,” said Gibbons. “We havent had a whole lot of power lately.” The slumping Blue Jays, losers of seven of 10 entering Wednesdays play, activated Rasmus from the disabled list and sent his replacement, Anthony Gose, back to Triple-A Buffalo. It was a long road to recovery for Rasmus, whod been on the disabled list since May 13 with tightness in his right hamstring. Rasmus initially thought the injury would heal in a matter of days. “Its always a learning experience,” said Rasmus. “Pushing yourself too quick or too slow. Every injury is different. This is a different injury and I just had to learn what I did and, hopefully, next time Ill be able to correct it faster. But Im here now and ready to play.” Rasmus is one of the games streakier hitters. When hes hot, he hits home runs in bunches. When he slumps, he swings and misses a lot and strikes out often. In 37 games this season, Rasmus is hitting .222/.266/.489 (.755 OPS) with nine home runs. Twice this season, he has hit three home runs in a span of four games (April 10-13 and May 1-4), which account for six of his nine long balls. Still, Rasmus has struck out in 32.8 per cent of his plate appearances this season, compared to 29.5 per cent last year and 24.6 per cent for his career. “Yeah, I mean hes always been that way,” said Gibbons. “You wish it wasnt so often but, you know, I mean he can run into some balls too and make a difference that way.” LIND CONFIDENT HELL AVOID DISABLED LIST On Wednesday, the Blue Jays played a third consecutive game without the services of designated hitter/first baseman Adam Lind. Linds been down since fouling a ball off his right foot in Saturdays loss at Baltimore. He suffered a deep bone bruise and, on Sunday, was using crutches and wearing a walking boot. Hes since come out of the boot and hit off a tee on Wednesday afternoon. “Theres been improvements every day,” said Lind. “Now, were just working on a tape job to try and relieve as much stress or pain on my foot as we can so I can get in the lineup.” Lind wasnt sure whether he could pinch-hit on Wednesday night. Manager John Gibbons has a three-man bench, not including Lind, and the Blue Jays may be hesitant to use Lind in case he ultimately requires a trip to the disabled list. A DL stint, if needed, could be made retroactive to Sunday (making Lind eligible to return on June 30) as long as he doesnt appear in a game. Based on the progress hes made, Lind isnt planning on being placed on the disabled list. “Its not constant,” said Lind of the pain in his foot. “When I sit still it doesnt hurt. I have a tape job right now and its helped a lot. I hit with spikes, it wasnt so well. I hit with turfs and it was much better. If I pinch hit, Ill be in my turfs.” POWER OUTAGE The Blue Jays are slumping after winning 15 of 17 games. Theyve dropped seven of their last 10, thanks in part to a significant decrease in the number of home runs theyve been hitting. Toronto leads the major leagues with 93 home runs but has hit only four in the last 10 games. Jose Reyes (June 9, June 17) has two of them. The other two were hit by Edwin Encarnacion (June 9) and Juan Francisco (June 13). The Blue Jays won the June 9 game, 5-4 over Minnesota and the June 13 game, 4-0 over Baltimore but lost the June 17 game, 3-1 to New York. Entering Wednesdays play, Jose Bautista was without a home run in 10 games, his longest drought of the season. PRAY FOR NO RAIN The five-day forecast for New York City suggests the Yankees wont have a rainout during their three-game weekend series with the Baltimore Orioles. Thats important to the Blue Jays because right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, who beat Toronto on Tuesday night to improve his record to 11-1, is scheduled to start on Sunday. Naturally, the Blue Jays would like Tanaka to pitch against another divisional opponent. Add to that the fact the Yankees visit Toronto for three games starting on Monday. If the Yankees have a rainout this weekend, Tanakas start could be pushed back into the series with the Blue Jays. As it stands, Toronto is due to miss Tanaka next week. The Yankees are 12-2 in games Tanaka starts and 24-31 otherwise. TWO MORE DRAFT PICKS SIGN The Blue Jays formally announced the signings of third-round pick, left-handed pitcher Nick Wells (83rd overall) and sixth-round pick, left-handed pitcher Grayson Huffman (174th overall). Wells is 18 years old. Huffman is 19 years old. Custom St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys .C. -- Benn Ferrieros familiar with scoring important goals, just not in back-to-back games. Mark McGwire Jersey . Returning to Davis Cup tennis, Federer cruised past Ilija Bozoljac, winning 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 in less than two hours. Federer faced little challenge from Bozoljac, who served well but still was no match for his Swiss opponent. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/car...rpenter-jersey/. Both moves were announced Tuesday. The Titans had waived Matthews on Saturday when they promoted wide receiver Michael Preston from the practice squad. St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys . Patty Mills scored 15 points, Tim Duncan had 10 points and 11 rebounds in limited minutes, and San Antonio trailed for only 11 seconds late in the first quarter of a 103-90 victory over Portland on Wednesday night. Roger Maris Jersey .C. -- Panthers offensive tackle Jordan Gross is saying goodbye to the NFL after 11 seasons.(SportsNetwork.com) - After a rough start to their weekend, the Vancouver Canucks were able to secure a hard-fought victory that left head coach John Tortorella pleased. The Canucks, who will be without Alex Burrows with a broken jaw, look to conclude a four-game road trip with another victory on Tuesday night as they visit the Nashville Predators. After beginning its swing with a victory in Ottawa, Vancouver dropped a 5-2 decision to the New York Rangers on Saturday in John Tortorellas return to the Big Apple. The Canucks didnt get much rest after that emotional battle as they made a quick turnaround to visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. Vancouver was able to secure just its third victory in 11 games (3-5-3) with a 3-2 decision over the Hurricanes. Ryan Kesler and Tom Sestito scored in the first period for the Canucks before the Canes tied the game early in the second on goals just 10 seconds apart. Kesler, though, netted his second goal of the game less than a minute later and backup Eddie Lack notched 29 saves in the win. "We had a tiny lapse there in the second period, but we closed it out. Good win for us," said Kesler. Tortorella agreed, especially after his club held Carolina scoreless on its six power-play chances. "For us, playing a back-to-back, it was a good wake-up call," Tortorella said. "Itts about getting tougher, grabbing a hold of ourselves and finding a way.ddddddddddddquot; Vancouver will play the first of five straight at home starting on Friday and should have Roberto Luongo in net for the finale of this road trip. He is 15-12-0 with three ties, three shutouts and a 2.23 goals against average in his career versus the Predators. Nashville is 5-2-1 in its last eight games and is coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Rookie Marek Mazanec made 22 saves, bested for the game-tying goal with 6:54 to go in regulation before yielding the lone shootout tally. Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson scored in regulation, though Wilson had a few chances to score in overtime and failed to convert. That included a breakaway with less than a minute to go in the bonus frame. "We should have won the game, but we didnt," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We couldnt hold onto the lead." The Preds did earn a point despite playing without a pair of defensemen in captain Shea Weber and Kevin Klein. Weber took a puck to face in Thursdays 3-0 loss to Edmonton, while Klein is battling a lower-body issue. Neither skater is expected to play tonight. The Canucks won all three of their meetings with the Predators a season ago and have won nine of their last 12 in Nashville. 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