TORONTO - From this there will be no going back. Dustin McGowans time as a major league starting pitcher is over. Hes off to the bullpen to reprise the role in which he was so effective last season. He knows what to expect. He no longer has to worry about the relative brevity of his starts and the effect its had on the bullpen. There will be less stress about the pain in his arm on days in between starts. He wont have to concern himself with tiring and the role elevated blood sugar levels - McGowans a type 1 diabetic - may be playing in the fatigue. Theres a feeling of relief about being a reliever. "Yeah it is, actually, to tell you the truth," said McGowan. "That was one thing, when I left the office today, I kind of felt like there was a weight lifted off of my shoulder a little bit. Like, now I know what I can go do and what I need to do." McGowan met with manager John Gibbons in the skippers office on Thursday afternoon. Hed pitched into the fifth inning on Wednesday, leading to another night of taxing work for the bullpen. The question Gibbons had: how are you feeling? McGowan, as he promised he would be, was honest with his response. "Recovery is starting to get slower and slower and I was the first one that said that I would tell them when I started feeling a little sore," he said. The problems began after McGowans start in Pittsburgh, he said, when he noticed that hed be sore for the next four days, until the day before he was scheduled to pitch again. There was mutual agreement to pull the plug on the starting experiment. "To be honest with you I think it will prolong his career," said Gibbons. "I dont know how many total innings he threw last year but hes got to be close to that number this year. I think it would be a shame for him to get hurt out there again and his careers over." McGowan agrees. "Whos to say if I tried those two more starts, what if something did happen," said McGowan. "Thats something I didnt want to happen." McGowans had three significant shoulder surgeries, which wiped out his 2009 and 2010 seasons, most of 2011 and the entirety of 2012. He returned as a reliever last June and pitched well in 25 appearances, posting a 2.45 ERA and striking out a hitter per inning. The 32-year-old can now forge a relief career in peace. Last September, he asked for one more chance to start. He got it, in large part because Toronto failed to land free agent Ervin Santana and because J.A. Happ struggled in spring training and began the season on the disabled list. The reasons why dont matter, though, the fact is he got the opportunity. "I asked for the opportunity and they gave me the shot," said McGowan, whos 2-2 with a 5.08 ERA in 39 innings pitched this year. "Its been a little rocky but I got the opportunity and Im glad I did." WHO REPLACES McGOWAN? Given the Blue Jays roster volatility, its impossible to predict with certainty who will get the first shot at McGowans spot. Toronto has an off day on Monday, in between three-game series in Texas and Boston, meaning manager John Gibbons can push back a fifth starter as far as a week Saturday when the Jays are back home and playing Oakland. From the current roster, Gibbons could go young and give Marcus Stroman his first career start. He could give the ball to Todd Redmond, a noted strike thrower. Stroman, 23, has worked to mixed reviews in five appearances during his first stint in the big leagues. He got his first major league win, pitching 1 1/3 innings in an extra inning victory at Philadelphia on May 6. Following another scoreless appearance against the Phillies on May 8, however, Stroman has since eight earned runs and 11 hits in three innings over two outings. "Just got to make pitches," said Stroman. "Hitters are hitters and you can never give them too much credit. Just got to really make pitches, bear down, its the best hitters in the world so you dont have room to make mistakes and they hammer mistakes." Here are the pitching matchups for the weekend set in Texas: Friday - RHP Drew Hutchison (1-3, 4.37) vs. RHP Yu Darvish (3-1, 2.33)Saturday - LHP Mark Buehrle (7-1, 2.04) vs. LHP Robbie Ross (1-5, 5.04)Sunday - RHP R.A. Dickey (4-3, 4.53) vs. RHP Nick Martinez (0-1, 2.38) RASMUS TO THE DISABLED LIST He was hoping to avoid it but Colby Rasmus went on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 13, with tightness in his right hamstring. "He wasnt healing quick enough," said manager John Gibbons. "Its tough to play shorthanded so this way he can go on the DL, get rid of the thing completely and hell be good to go in a couple of weeks." Anthony Gose was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take Rasmus roster spot. Gibbons plan is to platoon Gose, who hits left-handed, with right-handed hitting Kevin Pillar. Air Jordan 11 Retro Cheap . Johansen scored twice and Derek MacKenzie, Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson also had goals to lead the Blue Jackets to a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, ending a three-game losing skid. Jordan 11 Wholesale Shoes . Ho-Sang is a highly regarded prospect, as seen in TSNs Midseason Rankings. This was Game 3 of their playoff series and that wasnt the only strange incident in Londons 10-2 win over Windsor. http://www.airjordan11ireland.com/ . -- ETwaun Moore had 14 points in 30 minutes, and the Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons 87-86 on Sunday night. Cheap Jordan 11 Ireland . Notes on P.K. Subban, Dale Weise, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund, Ilya Bryzgalov and more. Air Jordan 11 Ireland . The Reds will host the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in the opener of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park, and the debut matchup will feature a pair of pitchers whose recent resumes have included a fair number of bases-clearing hits.WASHINGTON -- After his last start, Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg said his mechanics werent right. Tuesday night he was finely tuned. Strasburg bounced back from his worst outing of the season with 7 2-3 strong innings, and Jayson Werth had two doubles and three RBIs in the Nationals 7-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies. "I just tried to execute pitches better. I wasnt trying to reinvent the wheel," he said. "I think I wanted to go out there and just trust myself, and just have a little bit finer focus. . I feel like I was able to keep the ball down a little bit." Anthony Rendon added a two-run double for Washington, which has won four straight. Strasburg (7-6) tied his career high by allowing seven earned runs in 4 2-3 innings in his last start -- a loss in Milwaukee -- and was 0-2 with a 7.27 ERA over his last three. Tuesday night he struck out eight and walked one while giving up one run. The Rockies didnt get a runner past second until DJ LeMahieus homer in the eighth. "I think strike one is probably the biggest difference," manager Matt Williams said. "He got ahead of a lot of hitters tonight. His curveball was effective, his changeup was effective. Went deep in the game. He threw a lot of pitches, but he was in command." Strasburg was lifted after walking Corey Dickerson with his 111th pitch. Tuesday night also was a bounce back game for Werth, who was 7 for 52 in his last 13 coming in. He doubled home two runs in the first, another in the fourth and walked twice. "(I) was here late last night watching video with Rick Schu, our hitting coach," Werth said. "Today, had a pretty good mindset going into the game and we made a minor adjustment, just kind of shorten (my swing) up a little bit." Washington has scored seven runs in three straight games, albeit the last two against the pitching staff with baseballs worst ERA. Bryce Harper went 1 for 5 in his second game back from the disabled list, and every Washington starter hit safely except Ian Desmond. "Theres not an easy out one thru eight," Strasburg said. "Its our job as pitchers to go out tthere and keep it close and let our (hitters) go out there and win the game.dddddddddddd" Christian Friedrich (0-3) allowed five runs in 3 1-3 innings for Colorado, which has lost 13 of 15. "Every day you cant worry about what happened yesterday," Rockies first baseman Justin Morneau said. "Youre not going to change it. If you start thinking that way, thats when you get in trouble. When you can put today behind us and come back and try and win a game tomorrow and start over, thats what good teams are able to do." Friedrich was making his third start since being called up June 21 and struggled once again, allowing five hits while walking four and striking out four. Overall, hes given up 14 earned runs and 21 hits in 13 1-3 innings. He struggled with his control early and the Rockies were quickly behind. Denard Span and Rendon walked to open the first, and Werth hit a smash past third baseman Ryan Wheeler, scoring both runners. Werth went to third on an infield single by Adam LaRoche and scored on Ryan Zimmermans sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. "Tough to play from behind against Strasburg. We got down early, made it tough," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. Strasburg helped Washington break it open when he doubled past a diving Brandon Barnes in right with one out in the fourth. Span singled Strasburg to third and moved to second on a wild pitch. Rendon then greeted reliever Chad Bettis with a double to left, increasing the lead to 5-0. Werth singled to score Rendon and later came home on a wild pitch. NOTES: In middle of 20 straight days with a game, Weiss rested SS Troy Tulowitzki and OF Charlie Blackmon. Blackmon grounded out as a pinch hitter in the eighth. ... Rockies LH Brett Anderson (broken finger), on the DL since April 13, is scheduled to make his first rehab start Wednesday for Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... The Nationals, after allowing 19 unearned runs in March/April and 13 in May, set a new club record by allowing just two in June. ... Colorados LH Tyler Matzek (1-2, 4.24) opposes RH Doug Fister (6-2, 2.83) in Wednesdays series finale. ' ' '