Blue Jays' Happ stars on the mound, at the plate in rain-soaked 12-1 victory

Jim Cerny

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Blue Jays' Happ stars on the mound, at the plate in rain-soaked 12-1 victory image

NEW YORK -- J.A. Happ had himself quite the time playing in miserable conditions on a rainy afternoon Wednesday at Citi Field.

The Blue Jays 35-year-old lefthander not only struck out ten batters over seven scoreless innings in a 12-1 laugher over the Mets, Happ also contributed two hits and a walk at the plate, scoring a pair of runs to boot.

"It was just a fun game," Happ said outside the Toronto clubhouse shortly after Danny Barnes recorded the game's final out.

"It was fun being on the bases a little bit, scoring a couple of runs and pitching deeper into the ballgame. You gotta' feel good about that one."

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Happ's offensive contributions were not only fun -- bringing quite the reaction from the Jays dugout -- but important in the scope of the victory, one that snapped the team's three-game losing skid. The veteran lefty walked leading off the fifth inning, igniting a three-run rally against Mets righthander Zack Wheeler, extending Toronto's lead from 3-0 to 6-0. The next inning, Happ's leadoff single against reliever AJ Ramos started another three-run inning as the Blue Jays pulled away.

"To get on base and feel that part of the game again, it's been a while, so it's definitely fun to feel that," offered Happ.

It was the third time in Happ's career he had two hits in a game -- the most recent time coming in a contest also against the Mets on April 21, 2011 when he pitched for the Astros. He became the third Blue Jays pitcher ever to record a two-hit game at the plate and the first to ever reach base three times in a single game. Happ also is only the second Toronto pitcher to score two runs in a game.

 

 

While all of that is nice -- and key to the victory -- the most important aspect of Happ's day was the way he dominated a Mets lineup that put up 12 runs the night before. Happ snapped a personal two-game slide and improved his record to 5-3 with his terrific start on Wednesday.

"He's having a good year for us, and he can dominate, which is what he did today," noted Jays skipper John Gibbons.

Happ allowed only two hits -- none after a Wilmer Flores one-out double in the fourth inning -- and did not walk a batter. His ten strikeouts equaled his season high set on April 24 against the Red Sox, and it was the third time this season he pitched seven complete innings.

 

 

And he did all of this on a day when it rained the entire afternoon.

"He was outstanding, and on a tough day to play," said Gibbons. "He held it together. I thought he had the best slider he's had all year."

A real turning point in the game came in the bottom of the third inning with the Jays holding a 1-0 lead on Justin Smoak's first-inning home run. As the rain intensified, Happ slipped on a delivery to the plate and requested the grounds crew to work on the mound. The delay lasted roughly 12 minutes, and then Happ struck out the side.

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However, his counterpart -- Wheeler -- seemed to be thrown off his game by the long half inning on the bench. After striking out six and allowing only Smoak's homer through three, Wheeler lost his touch, walked the leadoff batter in the fourth and then surrendered a two-run bomb to Teoscar Hernandez, never recovering while Happ put it into overdrive.

"It was OK after that third inning when they came out and cleaned it up, from that point on it was pretty good actually," Happ said of the conditions. "It was really nice to get on the board early and then it's up to (me) to put up zeroes after we score."

Added Gibbons, "You never know what you're going to get on a sloppy day like this. They slip a little bit, get a little out of whack -- I've seen that plenty of times -- but that didn't happen to him once today.He was in a nice groove...and it turned out just fine."

Jim Cerny