SEATTLE – The salvaging of a six-game swing on the west coast at 3-3 was good, and the party at Safeco Field with the thousands of Canucks who came down to get after it sure was fun. But perhaps the most heartening – and most important – development for the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend was the way J.A. Happ pitched in Sunday’s 4-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
For the first time in three starts since coming back from the elbow injury he suffered April 16, the left-hander resembled the pitcher he was last year. He worked off four- and two-seam fastballs to induce weak contact and get swing-and-miss results over six shutout innings.
Make no mistake, Happ still had to grind, allowing six hits and a walk and facing men in scoring position in each of the first four innings. But the Mariners were quite clearly fighting uphill against him before a hoser-laden gathering of 41,137, and the way he imposed his will on them is a good sign if he can keep building.
“I’m feeling more and more like myself,” said Happ.
The same goes for the team as a whole. The Blue Jays pulled back within a game of .500 at 31-32 by taking the final two games of the series in Seattle to finish 6-1 versus the Mariners this year. With Joe Biagini and Marcus Stroman each going seven innings during their outings, the Blue Jays rotation covered 20 of the 27 frames over the weekend, helping a bullpen that has often carried a heavy load.
“That would be a good sign if we can do that more consistently, give the bullpen a little bit of a break,” said Happ. “Stro seems like he’s got plenty in the tank, always, and to see Joe go seven the other night was really good.”
Blue Jays starters have now covered 343 of the team’s 566.1 innings this season, or 60.5 per cent. They led the American League last season with 995.1 of the team’s 1,459.1 frames, good for 68.2 per cent.
“Everything revolves around pitching in this game. If you’re going to win anything you’ve got to pitch,” said manager John Gibbons. “And our bullpen has been really good, but it takes its toll on those guys when the starters can’t go a certain distance, anyway. It’s not going to happen all the time, but one thing we proved last year out of the group we have here, that’s what they can do. … That’s key.”
The trusty old homer got them started in this one. After a Kevin Pillar leadoff double, James Paxton of Ladner, B.C., fell behind 2-0 to Josh Donaldson before serving up a middle-middle 94.8 m.p.h. heater that ended up in the right-field seats 357 feet away.
“Not damage to the point I was trying to come unglued on him, but I was trying to do damage to where I could hit a ball in the gap and if I clip it enough, maybe go deep,” Donaldson said of his approach. “I was definitely on heater at that point because I know he’s got a really good heater and, as he should, I know he likes to go it. He’s blown me up with it a few times in the past.”
Donaldson singled on another fastball in the second, when the Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out but came up empty, before busting the shift with an opposite field RBI single in the fourth on a middle-middle curveball to open up a 3-0 lead.
“Honestly, I got a little lucky,” Donaldson said of the RBI single. “I’d seen his curveball a few times already. At 2-1, if he threw me a heater for a strike right there, maybe I swing, maybe I don’t. I don’t now. I was kind of in between the heater and off-speed. I was lucky enough to punch one through the hole.”
Kendrys Morales followed with another RBI single immediately after to make it a 4-0 game and the Blue Jays were in control the rest of the way.
“It was good to see we scored other ways other than the home run,” said Gibbons. “We need to do more of that.”
Happ made sure it stuck, even as he had to navigate some traffic. He got Kyle Seager to fly out with two on in the first, struck out Taylor Motter with a man on second in the second, got Seager on a grounder to first with two aboard in the third, and struck out Motter and Heredia with two on in the fourth.
Those K’s started a run of eight straight batters retired to close out his six innings.
“It seemed like their approach might have been to use the opposite field, took a couple of fastballs and went to the other side, not a ton of damage,” said Happ. “It’s stressful with baserunners but fortunately I usually had an out or two and was able to finagle my way out of there.”
Happ threw 47 four-seamers and got four swings and misses, the same number he managed on 28 two-seamers he used to get plenty of chase.
“What I took away was that the separation between the two- and four-seamer was big today, just so they couldn’t stay on one of those,” said Happ. “And moving the ball in and out. Luke (Maile) did a good job back there moving it in and out mixing it up. I felt pretty good out there.”
Having allowed three walks and two homers in each of his first two starts after returning from the disabled list, the performance made for a significant progression. One that bodes for well for a team that needs many more starts like this one from him.
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