Lawrie shows good signs with first home run

TORONTO -- Brett Lawrie showed signs that he could be breaking out of his prolonged slump at the plate by hitting a two-run homer during Wednesday night's 7-3 victory over the Astros.

Lawrie entered the game with just three hits in 29 at-bats, but he finally began to see some positive signs later in the contest. It started with a hard-hit ground ball during the fourth inning and continued in the seventh when he sent a pitch over the wall in left for his first home run of the season.

It had to have been a major relief for the 24-year-old Lawrie, but after the game he was preaching patience and said he was never going to get carried away with a slow start to the season.

"It's a long year, we still have a 150 games, 140-something games left," Lawrie said. "So it is a long year and it's definitely not time to push the panic button. We've got a lot of ABs left, over 400 ABs left, maintain health and just keep trying to find a way to help the team win whether it's on defense or on offense. [I'm] just trying to help the boys."

Lawrie is one of the most intense players in the game and is the type of personality who can be extremely hard on himself when things aren't going well. That can lead to even more pressure than normal and often causes a player to dwell on the past instead of looking ahead.

Gibbons hasn't seen much of that frustration this year, though, which is something he is taking as a positive sign. According to Gibbons, Lawrie has taken a more mature approach which could help ensure his struggles don't continue to snowball throughout the season.

"I think he has been pretty composed [compared] to how Brett was in the past," Gibbons said. "So, I tip my hat to him, he has come a long way. But I'll tell you what, he has that fire in him, he's a great competitor so you know it's eating at him, but he is controlling his emotions, which is important."