Yankees spoil Dustin McGowan’s first big-league start since 2011, and Blue Jays’ home opener

TORONTO — Dustin McGowan’s redemption story will have to wait for another day. The Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher made his first big-league start since September 2011 but it lasted less than three innings.

The oft-injured, former prized prospect was roughed up early by the New York Yankees. He surrendered four runs on eight hits before being lifted with two outs in the third inning after throwing 72 pitches. The Yankees went on to win 7-3 in front of 48,197 in the Blue Jays’ home opener. The result wasn’t what he wanted, but being on the mound for the home opener was an accomplishment in itself.

McGowan, 32, won 12 games in 2007, including a one-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, but spent part of the next six seasons on the disabled list with a serious right shoulder injury, and various foot and oblique injuries. The Blue Jays stuck with him and signed him to an extension in 2012. He appeared in 25 games in 2013, all in relief, then won the fifth spot in the Blue Jays’ rotation for 2014.

“It was a battle for him,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “We need more innings out of him. He feels fine, he’s better than that, he’ll get better.”

McGowan got into trouble early with five of the first six batters getting hits. Even the out was a hard-hit ball to centrefield that scored a run. With the bases loaded and one out McGowan got Ichiro Suzuki to strikeout then got Yangervis Solarte to pop out in foul territory to limit the damage.

Part of the problem early may have been that the Yankee batters knew what pitches were coming. During that rough first inning former All-Star pitcher Mark Mulder tweeted that McGowan was tipping his pitches when throwing out of the stretch.

Gibbons confirmed what Mulder saw.

“Our pitching coach [Pete Walker] picked it up too,” Gibbons said. “It’s tough sometimes to make changes on the fly. It’s something he’s never done before, we’ve never seen that.

“It makes it much easier to hit.”

McGowan’s night, and the game, changed drastically in the third inning thanks to the help of MLB’s new replay system. Ichiro hit a grounder with one on and two out and was initially called out at first. But Yankees manager Joe Girardi challenged the play under the review system. The call was reversed and the inning continued. The next batter was Solarte who doubled to the gap to score both runners and give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. That was the end of McGowan’s night and the Yankees never surrendered that lead.

“That’s why we have it [replay], to get calls right. It paid off for them. You want to get the game right,” Gibbons said.

McGowan’s early departure meant another long night for the Blue Jays’ bullpen. Aaron Loup, Todd Redmond, Brett Cecil, Steve Delabar and Jeremy Jeffress all pitched an inning or more to finish the game. Jeffress surrendered a run on three hits then was designated for assignment after the game. The Blue Jays said Chad Jenkins would be recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday.