Long County’s Dustin McGowan made his first start in more than three years on Sept. 11 when the Toronto Blue Jays faced the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre in Canada.
But the start did not go well for the right-hander as he had difficulties from the onset. In the first inning, McGowan walked two of his first three batters, and he continued having a hard time finding his pitches in the second inning.
By the end of the third, he did settle down a bit and was able to close out that inning by retiring all three batters in order.
In the fourth inning, he opened by walking the first two batters, sending manager John Farrell to the mound to pull the right-hander. For the day, McGowan faced 17 batters and threw 75 pitches, of which 39 were strikes. He walked five batters, allowed three hits and four earned runs.
His ERA now is 9.00 in two outings. Despite McGowan’s struggles, Toronto went on to win the game, 6-5, to improve to 74-73.
McGowan was back on the mound Friday, facing the New York Yankees in Toronto. In that game, he had a much better outing, allowing three earned runs against one of the best lineups in the majors. Toronto won that game, 5-4, with McGowan going five solid innings.
In that contest, the Long County native gave up three hits and two walks but struck out four. In his comeback effort, he threw 75 pitches — 43 for strikes — and his ERA currently sits at 7.50.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Toronto had a 78-75 record.
McGowan is scheduled to return to the mound tonight when the Blue Jays take on the Los Angeles Angels in Toronto.
According to a report posted on the Toronto Blue Jays website, Farrell wants McGowan to throw around 85 pitches in the game. The game can be seen on SNET-1 and on MLB.TV, and it starts at 7 p.m.