Canseco

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jose Canseco, who missed 46 games during an eight-week stay on the disabled list with a strained left heel, returned to Tampa Bay's lineup Tuesday night.

"It feels good. It's been a while," the 36-year-old slugger said before Tuesday's 8-2 loss to Atlanta. "Hopefully the foot holds up. We'll see how it goes. We'll take it one day at a time."

Canseco, sidelined since May 24, was the designated hitter and batted fifth against the Braves on Tuesday. It marked only the 32nd time that Canseco and Tampa Bay's other three power hitters -- Greg Vaughn, Fred McGriff and Vinny Castilla -- have been in the lineup together.

"The foot is definitely not 100 percent, but who does play 100 percent. Hopefully, I can help out with the bat," he said.

Canseco was hitting .261 with seven homers and 18 RBI entering the game. He hit .279 with 34 homers and 95 RBI last season despite missing two months after undergoing back surgery.

Manager Larry Rothschild resisted the temptation to activate Canseco before the All-Star break, preferring to give him as much time as possible to get healthy. But with the team in the middle of a stretch of 34 games in 35 days, he didn't want to delay his return any more.

"We've done about everything we could do," Rothschild said. "We"re getting to the point of the season that we need to play him."

To make room on the roster, the Devil Rays optioned outfielder Randy Winn to Triple-A Durham. He was hitting .227 with no homers and eight RBI in 36 games.