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TORONTO - From this there will be no going back. Adrian Dantley Jersey . 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. Byron Scott Lakers Jersey . In the last race before the Sochi Olympics, Bjoergen followed up her win in the 10-kilometre classical race on Saturday by beating World Cup sprint leader Denise Herrmann of Germany by 0.43 seconds for her fifth victory of the season. Kobe Bryant Lakers Jersey . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. NASHVILLE -- After consecutive strong games, Ondrej Pavelec has the Winnipeg Jets in the chase for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Pavalec made 39 saves in a 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, and coach Paul Maurice knows his goalie has been on a hot streak. "Hes played the same way, believe it or not, prior to. Hes had a big stretch of really good games, and every once in a while, hell play a game like he did (Saturday)," Maurice said. "Clearly he made some great saves, but I also thought we were pretty good clearing it out." Pavalec had 34 saves in the Jets previous game, a 3-2 victory over Phoenix on Thursday. The Jets, ranked sixth in the NHL in penalty kills coming into the game, didnt allow a goal on six Nashville power plays. One of the Predators strengths has been converting man-advantage chances. Entering the game, they were fifth in the league, but Pavelec stopped Nashville on each power play. "Yeah, we didnt have any interest in playing with that fire," Maurice said. "Well take a look at the ones we did give, and we have penalties that we have to avoid taking. Then we also have to recognize our penalty kills are pretty darn good." Simon Moser scored his first NHL goal for Nashville. He also scored in the Sochi Olympics playing for Switzerland. "That was then, at the Olympics, and now is now," Moser said. "I just try to do my best and keep going that way." The Jets improved 11-3-1 since hiring Maurice as coach. Olli Jokinen put the Jets on the board at 5:02 of the second period when he beat Nashville goalie Carter Hutton with a wrist shot for his 14th of the season. Jacob Trouba and Evander Kane assisted on the play when Winnipeg took advantage of a bad Nashville line change. Trouba collected the puck in his own end and fired a long pass to Jokinen on the left side. Andrew p;Ladd put the Jets up 2-0 at 18:18 of the second period when he tipped in a Zach Bogosian slap shot for his 15th of the season. Talen Horton-Tucker Lakers Jersey. . "We are picking our spots and have some great goaltending," Ladd said. Moser brought the Predators within one, but Devin Setoguchi put the game away when he tapped in a rebound off a Blake Wheeler miss with his 11th of the season at 16:08. With the loss, the Predators missed a chance to tie the Jets in the standings. Winnipeg has 66 points, while Nashville remains in 12th place with 62 points. "I thought we had a lot going on, created a lot of opportunities, and drew penalties because we were on the puck and creating chances," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I have to give Winnipeg credit, they had full commitment from everybody and they got a couple huge saves." This was the final matchup of the season for the two teams. Nashville won the series 3-2. With the Jets up 2-1 and the Predators with momentum, Pavelec came up with a huge save with about five minutes left when he stopped Mike Fishers shot on a 2-on-1 charge to the net. Scoring chances havent been hard to come by for Nashville. The Predators outshot Tampa Bay 21-7 in the final two periods of their game on Thursday, a 3-2 win. On Saturday, the Predators took the first 10 shots of the game before the Jets could muster a chance at the net. "Theres going to be games where you feel like you get your heart ripped out of your chest and you just have to forget about what happened," Trotz said. "We played a really good hockey game, but we didnt win it." Notes: This was the 100th game of Nashvilles Rich Clunes NHL career. ... In 10 matchups against the team formerly known as the Thrashers, Nashville is 7-3-0 on home ice since the 1999-2000 season. ... The win ended a four-game road losing streak in Nashville for Winnipeg. ' ' '