Lind activated from DL; Jenkins sent down

TORONTO -- Adam Lind made his return to the Blue Jays' lineup in their 12-6 win over the Phillies after missing more than three weeks because of a sore lower back.

Toronto's designated hitter was activated from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game. To make room on the 25-man roster, right-hander Chad Jenkins was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.

Lind suffered the injury in Baltimore during the second week of the season and initially tried to play through the pain, but had to be shut down on April 15. He went 4-for-16 with a pair of doubles in four rehab games with Class A Dunedin.

"About a week after it happened, I was moving around enough to do my exercises and do other exercises in the gym," said Lind, who went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in his first game back. "The doctor said when I had the meeting that it was usually a three-week recovery process, and I was three days ahead of that. But then I played down [in the Minors], and that took it over the three-week mark, but physically I felt fine before that."

The back has been an recurring issue for Lind over the past several years. He managed to avoid the DL in 2013, but missed time during each of the previous two seasons. The worst came in 2011, when Lind was forced to miss 24 games, but the pain lingered throughout the rest of the year.

The issue wasn't as severe this time around. Even though Lind was barely able to move around the clubhouse after suffering the injury, his mobility returned a lot earlier than expected. He didn't require a cortisone shot and was able to resume working out almost immediately.

In fact, the timing of Lind's return to a physical regimen was so fast, it caught him off guard.

"I anticipated it happening," Lind said of a cortisone shot. "I went to the doctor's office in street clothes, because I thought I was just going to hang out for like four or five days, and I ended up working out that afternoon, so I had to get some clothes from the clubby."

The result of Lind's addition to the roster meant the Blue Jays decided to option Jenkins and return to a seven-man bullpen. Catcher Erik Kratz was originally expected to be the odd-man out, but Dioner Navarro has been dealing with a sore quad, so Toronto ultimately decided to keep Kratz and back-up Josh Thole on the roster at the same time.

Jenkins has appeared in just three games this season and allowed three runs over three innings. He previously made eight appearances, including one start, for Triple-A Buffalo and had a 2.30 ERA.