The Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ, seen in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 10, has gone 16-3 for Toronto this season. He’s currently tied for the overall lead in major-league wins this season.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Logan Forsythe of the Tampa Bay Rays led off the game with a sharp line drive into left field and Kevin Kiermaier followed that with a bunt single.
Two on and nobody out, and pitcher J.A. Happ was quickly feeling the heat in his most recent start for the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 10.
Happ regrouped, getting the dangerous Evan Longoria to ground out to second, which advanced both base runners 90 feet.
Brad Miller, the next Tampa Bay batter, then hit a comebacker to Happ, who smartly relayed the ball to catcher Russell Martin, who tagged out Forsythe, who was churning for home from third base on the play, at the plate.
Happ then blew a 94-mile-an-hour fastball past the overmatched Mikie Mahtook to record the third out in a game that the Blue Jays would go on to score a convincing 7-0 victory.
In the old days, facing adversity so early on, Happ may well have folded from the pressure. That was then, this was now.
Happ is back in command now, both with his pitches and his emotions, and the 33-year-old has made the unlikely leap from journeyman to top-of-the-rotation star who shows no signs of letting up.
"I may have pressed a little bit more than I do now," Happ said of being able to better navigate his way through rough waters. "It's like, when you press, all of a sudden you're trying to be too perfect and you're down 2-0 to the batter and you're not making your pitches.
"I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to remain a little more positive."
Happ will be looking to collect his 11th straight winning decision when he takes to the mound on Wednesday in New York against the Yankees, hoping to continue the game-in and game-out steadiness that Toronto manager John Gibbons has come to rely on this season.
The only other Toronto pitchers in franchise history to go 10-0 over an 11-game span are Roy Halladay in 2003 and Roger Clemens in 1997. Both would go on in those seasons to collect Cy Young Award hardware as the top pitcher in the American League.
"That sounds like Cy Young stuff," Gibbons said when asked about Happ's robotic-like performance this season. "He's reliable, you can count on him. He's going to get roughed up every now and then, but he hasn't really had that this year."
After the Blue Jays turned heads when they persuaded Happ to return to Toronto, signing him to a three-year, $36-million (U.S.) free-agent deal in November, the left-hander has been a key figure in a top-notch Blue Jays rotation this season.
It was actually a run that started during the second half of last season after Happ, for the fourth time in five years, was dealt at the trade deadline, this time from the Seattle Mariners to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After Pittsburgh pitching coach Ray Searage detected that Happ was rotating too much in his delivery and not striding in enough toward home plate, a correction was made and Happ took off.
Over 11 starts after moving to Pittsburgh, Happ went 7-2 with a shockingly efficient 1.85 ERA, striking out 69 over 63.1 innings pitched.
This season for the Blue jays, Happ has as been just as formidable, with a 16-3 record – his 16 triumphs tying him for the overall lead in the major leagues with Boston's Rick Porcello.
His 2.96 ERA places Happ seventh over all in the A.L. among starters and is one of three Toronto starters to rank among the A.L. ERA leaders. Aaron Sanchez is rated No. 3 with a 2.84 ERA followed by No. 5 Marco Estrada at 2.95.
"The thing I'm most satisfied and happy with is I feel the hard work is paying off, getting to a place mentally where I feel comfortable," Happ said. "Obviously the physical thing is always going to be what it is. Sometimes you feel great, sometimes you feel not so great.
"But I think a lot of it has to do with the team and having success and me having confidence in them making plays behind me. I just think it's a cyclical thing – that when you get on the right vibe, more good happens."
For Happ to even be included in a conversation about the game's top pitchers is a bit of a mind blower to many Toronto fans, who still recall the old Happ in his first go-round with the Blue Jays a couple years back.
Inconsistent and often unhappy about having to shift between a spot in the rotation and the bullpen when he first pitched in Toronto from 2012 to 2014, the left-hander did not do himself any favours when he posted a 4.39 earned run average in 50 starts.
And when he was traded by the Blue Jays to Seattle after the 2014 season, there were not too many tears shed.
"I don't want to say uncomfortable," Happ said when asked to sum up his first stint as a Blue Jay. "I guess I'll just say I feel more comfortable now."
Happ was asked how he has finally managed to achieve such serenity on the mound after 10 years in the big leagues.
"Honestly, I had my first child this off-season," he said. "And I go home and instead of being selfish and worrying about me and moping and being upset, I get to see his face and it changes everything."
The little boy's name is J.J.