TORONTO – The time has come to give J.A. Happ the credit he’s earned, and acknowledge that in large measure the oft-maligned left-hander has been pretty solid since joining the Toronto Blue Jays starting rotation this season.
His latest contribution came in Wednesday’s wild 7-4, walk-off win over the Milwaukee Brewers, when he threw seven strong innings, and with some crisper defence behind him, might have kept three of the four runs charged to him off the ledger sheet.
Happ’s afternoon was finished by the time a testy contest devolved into The Greg Gibson and Phil Cuzzi Ump Show during an eighth inning in which managers John Gibbons and Ron Roenicke were both ejected, and before things were settled on Edwin Encarnacion’s dramatic three-run homer in the ninth.
Combined with missed bunts, replay controversies, a lot of back and forth plus wonder over why the Brewers would pitch Encarnacion after falling behind 3-1, the radio version of Kanye West would surely ask, “That game cray, ain’t it J.A.?”
“He was ready,” Happ said of Encarnacion, playing left field on this day so Adam Lind could be at first base with Jose Bautista needing more time at DH with his tender hamstring. “They may have taken a chance there, but they went after him, and he put a great swing on it.”
Jose Reyes led off the ninth with a double and after Melky Cabrera was intentionally walked, Anthony Gose failed to bunt the runners over on a fielder’s choice and Darin Mastroianni, who messed up a sacrifice bunt try in the seventh, struck out.
Encarnacion made sure things didn’t get away, however, blasting a 3-1 slider from Brandon Duntzler over the wall in left field in his team’s fourth walk-off win of the season.
“He hanged it, I banged it,” Encarnacion, ebullient by his normally stoic standards, said afterwards. “For me (a walk-off homer) is the best moment you can have.”
Still, without Happ’s work, the Blue Jays (47-39) wouldn’t have been in position to complete a two-game sweep of the NL-Central leading Brewers (51-35) before 24,286 at Rogers Centre.
Happ was burned for one run in the first on Carlos Gomez’s blooper in front of Cabrera in right field – a ball a healthy Bautista gets to – and three more in the third, two on Ryan Braun’s two-run triple that clanked off Colby Rasmus’s glove.
After that, the Brewers managed just one single off him while the Blue Jays chipped away at a 4-1 deficit to tie things up. The rebound allowed Happ to reach the seventh for the fourth time in 12 starts, in which he’s now 8-4.
“I thought he took a big step today, he had that one inning where they hit him around, but he settled in and shut them out the rest of the way,” said Gibbons. “There are times when if he’s really not on early in the game, in the past it would get away from him. Didn’t happen today, so that’s a good sign.
“Like anybody else it’s about consistency and he’s having a heck of a year.”
The Blue Jays dug out from their early hole as Bautista hit a solo homer in the first to tie things 1-1, Adam Lind ripped an RBI double in the third to make it 4-2 and Juan Francisco took his former team deep in the fourth to tie things up.
It was an ideal result end to a sometimes difficult 5-4 homestand for the Blue Jays, who now head out on a tough 10-game road trip that carries them into the all-star break, though not one without its challenges.
While Gibson’s strike zone left hitters from both teams throwing their heads back in anger all game, the Blue Jays became upset in the fourth inning, when Munenori Kawasaki appeared to evade Jonathan Lucroy’s tag at first base even though Cuzzi called him out.
Gibbons challenged but the play stood, and things bubbled over in the eighth, when Steve Tolleson reached on a hit by pitch. Roenicke came out to ask if he had in fact been hit by a pitch which Gibson didn’t take well to, and then Cuzzi became upset when the manager said he missed a check-swing on the play. His first ejection of the season followed.
“Phil said he didn’t swing on it,” said Roenicke. “So I started to turn away and I looked at Phil and I just said ‘You missed it,’ and he kicked me out. That’s a really bad job on Phil’s part. If he can’t take more than that, then he shouldn’t be doing this.”
A few pitches later, Tolleson headed for second when a pitch squirted loose and was called safe on a close play. The Brewers challenged and Tolleson was called out, bringing Gibbons out to give Gibson a piece of his mind, and was automatically ejected.
“I was just frustrated,” he explained. “I looked back on the Kawasaki play, on the big screen out there it’s really tough to tell but the info we got is that they saw a few different angles and they didn’t tag him. Then as long as it took, we’ve had a few of those this year, those inconclusive type (calls), and it’s just frustrating. Then you get burned on (a review), whether he was out or not. It’s been a long tiring homestand, a lot of day games, you get a little on edge.
“Maybe I got tired of looking at bunts not getting put down, so I said, ‘I’ll go have a beer.’”
If Happ continues to pitch the way he has the suds will keep doing nice and easy.
The left-hander has had a trying time with the Blue Jays since arriving via trade midway through the 2012 season, when he was shunted to the bullpen because the team didn’t want to pull Aaron Laffey from the rotation. Eventually he got to start but injured his foot and missed the rest of the year.
Then in 2013, he was hit in the head by a line drive and suffered a knee injury that dogged him for the rest of the season. This season he started off on the DL, returned in the bullpen and then finally was promoted to the rotation. Little doubt then why he says this is the best he’s felt with the Blue Jays.
“It’s nice to finally get to that point,” said Happ. “I’ve had some weird things happen over the past two years and just being healthy and being strong is a big thing for me. With that, if you get some success, then your body loosens up, it’s not as tight and you don’t feel you have to be as perfect. Those are good things for me. …
“I felt good when I came over here in 2012 before I was put in the bullpen. I didn’t feel great during that and then the (foot injury) happened. It’s just good to be there now.”
Fair is fair, Happ is due some props for getting back there.