TORONTO – Dustin McGowan badly wants to succeed in whats likely his last chance to be a regular big league starting pitcher.
[b]Dalton Schultz Cowboys Jersey[/b] . He badly wants to erase the doubts about the health of his three times surgically-repaired right shoulder. He wants, once and for all, to eliminate the too-good-to-be-true cloud that hovers over his unlikely story. After yet another all-too-brief outing, four innings plus three batters in Wednesday nights 10-8 loss to the Orioles, McGowan admitted that hes wearing out sooner than hed like. "Maybe a little bit," said McGowan when asked if he feels fatigued. "I do seem at 60 pitches, I kind of seem to be falling backwards a little bit, I guess you could say. But I feel good, my arm feels great, its just sometimes it seems like the ball is not coming out quite right after 60, 65 pitches." Theres some positive in there with that negative. His arm, he insists, is healthy. Hes pleased with how he feels when hes pitching. Hes encouraged with his bounce back in the days after an outing. The problem, it seems, relates to a lack of stamina. "The body just feels like it runs out of steam a little bit," said McGowan. "I shouldnt be feeling that, I should be at the point where I can go 90-100, especially the way my arm feels. It feels great." Pressed further, McGowan didnt deny hes had thoughts about giving up his starters spot and returning to the bullpen. "You think about that, but right now Im planning on being a starter and Ive got to get past that hurdle sometime," he said. His unlikely return to the rotation aside, its important to put McGowans issues in context. While hed openly mused about taking one more shot at being a starter as far back as last September, and general manager Alex Anthopoulos was supportive of McGowans winter efforts to stretch out, there wasnt a realistic expectation hed be leaving the bullpen. McGowan found a home there last season, posting a 2.45 ERA in 25 appearances and showing the stuff of a late-inning, high leverage, shut down reliever. Then this year, toward the end of spring training, the Blue Jays fell just short in the pursuit of free agent right-hander Ervin Santana. There was a spot to fill behind R.A. Dickey, Drew Hutchison, Mark Buehrle and Brandon Morrow. J.A. Happ dealt with back inflammation and pancaked with four awful Grapefruit League starts, resulting in a season-starting stint on the disabled list. Marcus Stroman was inconsistent and started the year with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Aaron Sanchez, whose repertoire has Blue Jays personnel frothing, is working at Double-A New Hampshire and his innings are being monitored early in the season. Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond are best suited for long relief, which left McGowan as the best option. This despite the fact he suffered through a bout with a nasty stomach virus in early March, which docked about a week off his spring training schedule and pushed back efforts to get him multiple-inning appearances. "It could be," said McGowan of whether his shorter than expected spring has caught up with him. "We sped it up a lot, usually you wouldnt increase that much that fast, but we had to and we did it. Ive just got to find a way. Theres a way, Ive just got to get it past that hurdle." Whats still unclear is how long the Blue Jays are willing to give him. Stroman is off to a fine start with the Bisons, posting a 2.18 ERA, 1.355 WHIP and 26 strikeouts against six walks in three starts. His time is coming. So is Sanchezs, eventually. Could it be sooner rather than later? A Relievers Approach The Blue Jays entered Wednesdays action a Top-10 team in relief innings pitched. Relievers have hurled 67 2/3 innings so far this season, getting on average about 10 outs per game. The bullpen is its own world, made up of pitchers who take different approaches to getting ready and staying fresh in case theyre called on to appear in games on consecutive days. Take Brett Cecil, a closer during his sophomore year at the University of Maryland in 2006. By the time he debuted in the big leagues in 2009, he was a starter. Cecil won a career-high 15 games in 2010, then had a mysterious drop in velocity on his fastball, struggled, and has since revived his career as a left-handed relief specialist. "Its just kind of an everyday thing about how I feel," said Cecil of a days preparation. "Whether Im off that day, whether Im going to throw that day; it just all depends on the night before, the two nights before, what Ive done. If I need to stretch, I stretch. If I need to lift, I go lift." Cecil is being careful early in the season after experiencing elbow pain late last year. He made a career-high 60 appearances before being shut down in mid-September. The games he could handle but as a former starter, Cecil was learning how to prepare for relief work. Hes got a better handle on the demands this season. "I wasnt sure how to police myself being a reliever so the days that I felt like throwing a flat ground, I would throw a flat ground," said Cecil. "Did I really need it? No." Cecil believes its easier on the arm to be a starter. You pitch every fifth day, working through a rest, treatment, throwing regimen in-between starts. In relief, you could pitch on back-to-back days and then sit for a number of games. There are periods of consistent work, every other day. Its unpredictable. If a reliever has a two-pitch outing, like Cecil did on Friday night in Cleveland, it counts as a days work so when he throws again on Saturday, as he did against the Indians, hes not available for Sunday. "Thats one of those things that people dont see," said Cecil. "We as bullpen guys dont get a chance to gradually warm up. Its, youve got to get on the mound and throw and youve got to get hot in a very short amount of time. It puts a lot of stress on the arm." Closer Sergio Santos didnt appear in Tuesday nights win over the Orioles but with the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, he was warming up to pitch the ninth. Its not an appearance in Santos stats line but it is a day of work. "I had two days off plus an off day so it was technically three days off," said Santos. "It was fine for me to get off the mound and I threw maybe eight to 10 pitches. Just something to where I was sharp enough that if the inning were to end, Id be able to go out and do my job and if it didnt, then it was just a day of a little bit more than a flat ground." Santos is less concerned about a day like Tuesday in April but come July and August, the dog days of summer, relievers become more concerned with "saving their bullets." That is, throw when needed and to stay ready; just dont throw any more than whats required. Bullpen coach Bob Stanley charts pitches thrown and keeps track of each relievers throwing schedule. Guys have different warmup routines. Santos likes eight to 12 pitches off the mound before entering a game. Cecil likes 15 to 20, throwing the final five at maximum capacity. If hes rushed, hell factor in the eight pitches he gets on the game mound. "Some guys warm up with an intensity that matches almost the game and can be harder," said Santos. "Some guys take it a little lighter when theyre warming up."
[b]Cowboys Jerseys[/b] . Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves.
[b]Jamize Olawale Jersey[/b] . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution.LONDON, Ont. -- Anthony Stolarz stopped 29 shots and Max Domi had three assists as the London Knights blanked the visiting Windsor Spitfires 4-0 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Bo Horvat, Chris Tierney and Mitchell Marner each had a goal and an assist for the Knights (17-5-2), who are 9-0-1 in their last 10 contests, while Ryan Rupert added a single goal. Defenceman Trevor Murphy was a team-worst minus-3 for the Spitfires (15-8-0), who had their four-game win streak halted. Windsors Alex Fotinos allowed four goals on 34 shots and was relieved by Dalen Kuchmey, who stopped the three shots he faced in the final 11 minutes of the game. London went 1 for 1 on the power play while the Spitfires failed to score on three chances with the man advantage. --- OTTERS 5 WOLVES 2 ERIE, Pa. -- Dane Fox scored twice and set up one more as the Otters downed Sudbury. Dylan Strome, Adam Pelech and Connor McDavid also scored for Erie (20-4-1) and Connor Brown tacked on three assists. Craig Duininck and Ray Huether responded for the Wolves (10-9-6), who lost for the first time in three outings. Devin Williams made 37 saves for the Otters as Sudburys Franky Palazzese turned aside 32-of-37 shots in defeat. --- PETES 4 ICEDOGS 2 PETERBOROUGH, Ont. -- Andrew DAgostini stopped 31 shots as the Petes doubled up Niagara. Steven Lorentz, Stephan Nosad and Josh MacDonald gave Peterborough (10-13-3) a 3-0 lead early in the second period and Nick Ritchie added another goal into an empty net late in the third. Eric Ming and Mitchell Fitzmorris scored for the IceDogs (6-15-4), who are winless in seven games. Christopher Festarini gave up three goals on 32 shots for Niagara. --- STORM 6 WHALERS 2 PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Defenceman Zac Leslie sscored four goals as Guelph toppled the Whalers.
[b]Leighton Vander Esch Jersey[/b]. Matthew Mancina stopped 42-of-44 shots for the Storm (18-4-3), who have just one regulation-time loss in their last 17 games, and Jason Dickinson and Brock McGinn added a goal apiece. Matt Mistele and Carter Sandlak supplied the scoring for for Plymouth (10-14-1). Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 47-of-52 shots for the Whalers. --- SPIRIT 6 STING 2 SAGINAW, Mich. -- Sean Callaghan scored twice and Jimmy Lodge had a goal and two assists as the Spirit defeated Sarnia. Justin Kea and Dylan Sadowy had a goal and an assist each for Saginaw (14-8-3) while Daniel De Sousa added a single goal. The Sting (8-16-1) got goals from Jimmy McDowell and Nikolay Goldobin. Nikita Serebryakov made 23 saves for the Spirit while Taylor Dupuis stopped 40-of-46 shots for Sarnia. --- BATTALION 2 COLTS 1 (SO) BARRIE, Ont. -- Blake Clarke scored the shootout winner as North Bay edged the Colts. After two scoreless periods, Battalion (12-12-1) forward Barclay Goodrow made it 1-0 just over 11 minutes into the second. Mitchell Theoret forced overtime when he scored for the Colts (13-8-3) at 17:05. Danil Gibl made 38 saves for North Bay while Jake Smith stopped 22 shots for Barrie. --- ATTACK 4 BULLS 3 OWEN SOUND, Ont. -- Jaden Lindo scored once and set up two more as the Attack handed Belleville its fourth straight defeat. Gemel Smith and Kyle Hope each had a goal and an assist for Owen Sound (11-10-4) while Holden Cook scored the other. Jake Worrad, Garrett Hooey and Cameron Brace scored for the Bulls (5-16-4) and Brendan Gaunce had two assists. Brandon Hope made 25 saves for the Attack. In his first OHL start, Braydon Banitsiotis stopped 26-of-30 shots for Belleville.
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