Portland Timbers vs. Columbus Crew

Portland forward Gaston Fernandez (#10) scored the equalizing goal in the Timbers 3-3 draw against Columbus May 17. Fernandez leads the Timbers with five goals this season. Steven Gibbons/for The Oregonian

The Portland Timbers have an opportunity to either climb into the playoff race or fall even further behind during the next nine days.



Beginning with their away game at New York Saturday, the Timbers will play three games in nine days, offering a chance to pick up some much-needed points quickly and elevate them into one of the top five spots in the Western Conference.



Or they could dig a deeper hole for themselves.



"It's an opportunity now where we get a chance to build some momentum quickly," center midfielder Will Johnson said. "We could be right back close to the (playoff) line by the end of (next) week."



The Timbers (1-3-7, 10 points) will play at New York Saturday, then travel to play at Chivas on May 28 before returning home to host Cascadia rival Vancouver on June 1. With two of the three games against conference foes, the Timbers have been presented a chance to gain ground.



Not only is the stretch of games compressed into a short amount of time, the location of the games means the Timbers will criss-cross the country twice — going from Portland to New York to Los Angeles — in a span of four days.



The successive games, travel and quick turnaround mean Portland coach Caleb Porter will need to juggle his lineup a bit for each game. Porter said 22 players will travel during the stretch, with the Timbers traveling directly to Los Angeles to train after facing the Red Bulls.



"If there's ever an opportunity to rotate your squad and give yourself the best chance with fresh legs and build your depth and use your depth, this is one of those windows," Porter said. "It would be extremely naive to play the same group all three games."



Center midfielder Diego Chara, who sat out the 3-3 draw against Columbus after surgery to repair a broken bone in his left hand, returned to training Tuesday. Chara trained with a soft cast on his hand, but Porter said he will be available for the game at New York.



Another change will occur at right back after Alvas Powell was given a straight red card following a reckless tackle during the game against Columbus. The red card calls for an automatic one-game suspension, and MLS added another game suspension. With Powell out and starting left back Michael Harrington nursing two sprained ankles and not expected to play, Jorge Villafana could be starting for the first time this season at left back.



Villafana came on and played 47 minutes against Columbus, his first regular-season minutes for the Timbers.



"It's almost seemed like he's more out of the mix than he is," Porter said. "But we certainly know he's capable and I thought he did a nice job."



The Timbers will try to continue the bit of momentum they possessed coming out of their draw against Columbus. Down a man for the entire second half after Powell's red card, the Timbers rallied from being a goal down twice to forge a draw.



The comeback certainly lifted the Timbers' spirits. The question now is whether they can sustain that energy into this difficult stretch of games, beginning with the Red Bulls (3-4-5, 14 points).



Offensively, the Timbers may be finally finding their game. They have scored eight goals during their current four-game unbeaten streak. The Timbers have scored three goals in two of the past three games, a welcome sign for a team that had been struggling to score.



One caveat to the positive news is that seven of those eight goals came at home. The Timbers have just two goals in away games, tied for fewest in MLS. They are 0-3-1 in away games, one of three teams without a road victory.



"With us dropping some points at home in getting these draws, it puts more pressure on the away games," defender Jack Jewsbury said. "With the squad we have, we feel like we can go places and get results. We need to at this point."

-- Geoffrey C. Arnold