CHICAGO -- Michael Conforto rejoined the New York Mets on Monday after a three-week stint in the minors. He may have returned as the teams primary center fielder.With Yoenis Cespedes expressing a desire to solely play left field for the remainder of the season, manager Terry Collins plans to have Conforto begin taking fly balls in center field.Collins said it makes sense to restrict Cespedes to left field because that is less taxing on his legs than center field. And keeping Cespedes bat in the lineup is the priority. Cespedes returned to the starting lineup on Sunday after an eight-day absence while resting a strained right quadriceps muscle.Were taxing his body pretty heavily by putting him in center field, Collins said. And we need him to hit. We need him to hit, and hit a lot. I just think if hes in left field where hes comfortable, and theres not so much emphasis on the defensive side, that hell go back and do what we hope he can do -- and thats be a big production guy.Conforto said he worked out in center field while at Oregon State, although he appeared in no games at that position in college. He exclusively had played left field as a professional ballplayer until this month, when he started four games in right field with Triple-A Las Vegas.Collins had planned for Conforto to begin seeing action in center field with the Pacific Coast League club on Monday, but general manager Sandy Alderson elected to instead promote Conforto to the majors for the series opener against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. So Confortos center-field acclimation will need to occur on the fly in the majors.Ill be an athlete, Ill go make plays and do whatever I can if they need me out there, Conforto said.Assuming he shows any aptitude, Conforto could begin handling center field against right-handed pitching -- flanked by Cespedes and Curtis Granderson -- as soon as the weekend at Marlins Park. Collins said his preference is not to use the 35-year-old Granderson in center field. Granderson has started 1,075 games at that position, but he has not been a full-time center fielder since 2012 with the New York Yankees.I think thats asking a lot, Collins said.Juan Lagares will continue to start in center field against left-handed pitching, as is the case Monday night against Chicago Cubs southpaw Jon Lester. Lagares may see some time in center field against right-handers, but Conforto did not return to the majors to sit, so those opportunities for Lagares should be limited.Because Wrigley Field has a relatively compact outfield and Conforto had no time to tune up, Collins initially planned to have Cespedes start Tuesday in center field against the Cubs. But after Cespedes patrolled left field conservatively in Mondays series opener, Collins huddled with outfield coach Tom Goodwin postgame and the manager indicated he may just leave Cespedes in the corner. Regardless, Cespedes will not remain in center field once the Mets move on to Miami for their next series, Collins pledged.Meanwhile, Conforto returns to the Mets with more confidence at the plate.Rookie outfielder Brandon Nimmo was demoted to clear the roster spot for Conforto, who hit .344 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 61 Triple-A at-bats. Conforto had been in an 8-for-75 rut before his June 25 demotion.I think there was a period of obviously being upset, Conforto said about the demotion. Youve got to go through that. ... Looking back on it, I think I got a little pull-happy. I think that was pretty clear. I think I really wanted to cover that inside corner, which was a spot I was having trouble with. And I think that took over a little bit. I didnt realize that would take away from my ability to go the other way. But I think it did a little bit.I just worked on trying to stay through the ball, worked on using my lower half a little bit better, getting my weight shifted a little bit further back just to start in my stance. I was kind of front-heavy there for a little bit. So when I went down, that was the first thing that the guys down there said.Wizards Jerseys China . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Wholesale Custom Wizards Shirts . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. http://www.customwizardsjersey.com/ . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Custom Gilbert Arenas Jersey . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. Gilbert Arenas Jersey Large . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Seven days after the Texas Rangers clinched their second straight American League West title, they took another significant step toward their ultimate goal.Yu Darvish looked playoff-ready with a season-high 12 strikeouts in six innings as the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Friday night and clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason.The Rangers can be tied by the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians, and they own tiebreakers over both teams. The AL owns home-field advantage in the World Series thanks to its win in the All-Star Game.Texas has never previously owned home-field advantage throughout the postseason and has never won a World Series. This clinching came thanks to the teams record 53rd home victory.Were playing really good baseball at home, shortstop Elvis Andrus said, so its always good to start everything at home.Darvish (7-5) allowed one run, three hits and one walk. His 28th career game of double-digit strikeouts is the second-most in a pitchers first 100 major league starts, topped only by Dwight Gooden (31). Darvish will likely start Game 2 of the division series -- following Cole Hamels -- in his first postseason appearance since losing the 2012 AL wild-card game to Baltimore.He looks a little bit more electric to me, said Evan Longoria, who had two of the Rays four hits. His ball is moving in different directions.Shin-Soo Choo returned to Texas lineup after missing 39 games with a fractured left forearm. Choo pulled a single to right in his first plate appearance since Aug. 15 and went 1-for-4.Matt Andriese (8-8) gave up three runs and seven hits, including solo home runs to Carlos Beltran and Rougned Odor.Darvish went into the game averaging 11.45 strikeouts per nine innings this season, best in the league. In his final four starts of the season, he fanned 38 in 24 2/3 innings.Ive had pretty good results lately, Darvish said through a translator, and I think Im in a good position now.Beltran homered just insiide the right-field foul pole, his 29th of the season and seventh since joining Texas at the non-waiver trade deadline.ddddddddddddOdors homer was his 33rd, tying Adrian Beltre for the team lead this season. The only Texas second baseman to hit more in a season is Alfonso Soriano, with 35 in 2005.Longoria had two doubles, one driving in the Rays run, giving him career highs of 171 hits and 80 extra-base hits this season.CHOO KNOWS HIS MISSIONResults arent the most important thing for Choo with him scheduled to play all three games of the series, which will determine whether hes on the 25-man postseason roster.My job is to show them Im healthy the next three days, he said.AFTER DARVISH, MORE ZEROESSam Dyson earned his 38th save. Four Texas relievers worked three scoreless innings, running the bullpens streak to a club-record 29 2/3, and it allowed one hit and one walk.These are guys weve seen be extremely effective, overpowering, have the ability to get outs when they need to get outs, manager Jeff Banister said.SHORT HOPSTexas (95-65) is one win short of tying the club record set in 2011. ... The Rays are 10-18 in September, the most losses in one month for the team since going 7-20 in July 2007. ... Logan Forsythe, who has been the Rays leadoff hitter in 123 games this season, appeared as a pinch-hitter and will return to the lineup Saturday night. ... Ian Desmond increased his majors-leading total of outfield errors to 12 with two dropped fly balls.UP NEXTTampa Bay: Jake Odorizzi (9-6) hasnt won since Aug. 30. The Rays have lost in his past four starts, during which he has had a 5.40 ERA.Texas: Colby Lewis (6-4), who figures to start Game 3 of the division series, is 0-3 with a 9.75 ERA in three September starts after missing two months with a strained lat muscle. Lewis lasted only 1 1/3 innings in his previous start Sunday at Oakland. ' ' '