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TORONTO – There may come a time in the next few years when the Houston Astros are a good baseball team. That time, however, is not now and with apologies to the "Its Early" crowd, with whom we typically should all agree hardly removed from opening day, this three-game home set with the Houston Astros is important to the Blue Jays. Nobody is suggesting that, say, if Toronto gets swept its season is over. But a check of the math tells you it doesnt help. The Blue Jays, by virtue of their perch in the American League East, have the unenviable task of playing 76 of their 162 games against their four divisional opponents. They get the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles 19 times each, a veritable meat grinder that can chew up and spit out the hope for a successful season all by itself. Lets say, for the sake of argument, the Blue Jays go 38-38 against their own division. That leaves 86 games against non-divisional opponents. To get to 90 wins, which likely wont be enough to win the division and may or may not be enough to capture one of the two wild card spots, Toronto would have to go 52-34. So far, after splitting a four-game series in Tampa Bay and disappointingly dropping two of three at home to the Yankees, the Jays are 3-4 within the AL East. Houston marks the first non-divisional opponent and due to the make up of the schedule, this is the only time the Astros will visit Toronto all year. It doesnt matter whether its April, June, or the intensity filled months of August and September, Houstons only here once and when they visit the Jays need to make hay. More than anything, manager John Gibbons wants his club to better protect home soil. "Ive always said you cant bury yourself early," said Gibbons. "Especially in this division, its an uphill battle and its real tough to come back. Were trying to get off to a good start and with more games at home itd be nice to finish up good at home. Youve got to play good at home, its no secret. Hold your own on the road and play good baseball at home." JEKYLL AND HYDE ROTATION The biggest question facing the Blue Jays (3-4) heading into the season centred on the starting rotation. Could it hold up in the toughest division in baseball? In the wins, Dr. Jekyll rules the day. When Torontos lost, Mr. Hyde rears his ugly face. Heres a look at the numbers through the first seven games: In the three wins, no runs allowed in 20 2/3 innings pitched. April 1: Drew Hutchison, 5.1 innings pitched.April 2: Mark Buehrle, 8.2 IP.April 5: R.A. Dickey, 6.2 IP. In the four losses, the starts have allowed a staggering 20 earned runs in just 16 innings pitched (11.25 ERA, averaging four innings pitched per start): March 31: R.A. Dickey, 6 earned runs in 5 innings pitched.April 3: Brandon Morrow, 4 ER in 5 IP.April 4: Dustin McGowan, 4 ER in 2.2 IP.April 6: Drew Hutchison, 6 ER in 3.1 IP. ROTATION JUGGLING Mondays off day has afforded manager John Gibbons the opportunity to flip R.A. Dickey and Dustin McGowan, meaning Dickey will start Thursdays series finale against the Astros and McGowan will open a three-game set in Baltimore on Friday night. "Thatll split up Morrow and McGowan," said Gibbons. "The two guys were watching a little bit. Put Dickey in the middle and he can eat some innings, anyway." Dickey has repeatedly said he prefers pitching under a roof, although Gibbons denied the forecasted cool conditions outdoors in Baltimore factored in to the decision. REYES UPDATE Jose Reyes, eligible to come off the disabled list from a strained left hamstring on April 16, ran the treadmill and took ground balls during batting practice on Tuesday afternoon. "Ill know better when I start running and see how Im feeling," said Reyes. "For now, Ill just take it day by day and see what happens." Reyes has been hitting to maintain his batting stroke but still has yet to run at full speed. When Reyes is ready to play, he expects to appear in at least a couple of minor league rehab games before returning to the Blue Jays. JANSSEN UPDATE Casey Janssen, out with an abdominal/back strain, doesnt think hell be ready to come off the disabled list when hes eligible on Sunday. "Probably not," said Janssen. "I dont know the exact date but Ive got to get on a rehab somewhere; hopefully shortly thereafter." Janssen expects only to need one or two minor league rehab games before hes back with the Blue Jays. If he continues to progress, its not unreasonable to expect Janssen to return mid-to-late next week. John Lowenstein Jersey . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. 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Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to a dominating 77-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday, preserving the Wildcats hopes of a No.NASHVILLE -- Barry Trotz hopes his Predators can learn from an ugly win. Patric Hornqvist scored the winner on a power play 5:13 into the third period to lift Nashville to a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Mike Fisher, Shea Weber, and Craig Smith each had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which has won three of four. "It was a frustrating game," Trotz said. "I would probably say that game we were probably the most sloppy weve been in all the games this year; not real detailed, making poor judgment errors all over the ice, just not real sharp tonight. But we found a way to win and thats part of learning to win." Jonathan Juberdeau, Marcel Goc, and Matt Gilroy scored for Florida. The Panthers have lost five of their last six. With the game tied 2-2 after two periods, Smith and Hornqvist scored early in the third period for the Predators. Florida goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped a shot by Gabriel Bourque, but Smith went to the net and was able to fight through traffic and poke the rebound in for his first goal of the season at 1:22. "I just crashed the net," Smith said. "I just went to the net. Weve been harping all camp and through the beginning of the season here, going to the net hard. I did that and I was rewarded." Less than four minutes later, Hornqvist struck on the power play with a nice individual move from the right side. "Thats the difference in a hockey game," Florida coach Kevin Dineen said. "It is something that were trying to take out, those mistakes, and we had a tough backcheck and a goal that shouldnt get scored. I dont fault the compete effort; I think thats something that weve talked too much about, but that certainly is paart of our game and has to be part of our identity every night to give ourselves a chance.dddddddddddd" Weber scored the games first goal at 9:23 of the opening period. Fisher had the puck on the right side and slid a pass to Weber at the centre of the blue line. The Nashville captain one-timed the puck by Markstrom for his first goal of the season. "We made it hard on ourselves tonight," Weber said. "We didnt play very well, we just found a way to win though. Thats what you need to do sometimes." Florida tied the game at 1 early in the second period when Huberdeau stickhandled through the Nashville defence before beating Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne with a wrist shot. The 2013 Calder Trophy winner has three goals in his last four games. Fisher gave Nashville the lead again at 12:48 of the second, but former Predator Marcel Goc tied it less than a minute later, beating Rinne from the right side in close. "It wasnt the start to the third that we wanted to have; they scored two in the first five minutes," Goc said. "Overall, I think it was a tight game; it was pretty even." Fisher and Hornqvist are the only Predators with more than one goal on the season. Gilroy drew the Panthers within one at 11:37 of the third, but they could not forge their third tie of the game. NOTES: After allowing the first goal in their first four games, Nashville has scored first in consecutive games. ... Nashville C David Legwand played his 900th career NHL game, all with the Predators. ... Florida C Nick Bjugstad appeared in his first game of the season since sustaining a concussion in early September. ... Goc played 124 games for Nashville in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. ' ' '