How Yankees’ J.A. Happ explains being 5-0 in 5 starts since trade

Yankees left-hander J.A Happ has won all five of his starts and pitched to a 2.03 ERA since being traded by the Toronto Blue Jays in late July.

BALTIMORE — Yankees pitcher J.A. Happ is having a blast sitting in the dugout during his starts and watching teammates hit and hit and hit.

It wasn’t like that when the veteran lefty was in the Toronto Blue Jays’ rotation for four months this season.

Yankees injury news: Latest on Judge, Gregorius, Sanchez, Frazier, etc.

The Yankees’ lineup is short-handed big-time with three stars on the disabled list, and while the offense has been lackluster at times of late without Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius, it’s hitting for Happ.

Nothing changed Saturday afternoon at Oriole Park when Happ threw another gem and the Yankees hit four homers in blowing out the Baltimore Orioles 10-3 in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader.

Happ also was handed 10 runs of support last Sunday at Yankee Stadium when he was the winning pitcher in a rout of the Blue Jays.

“We came out and scored 10, so having that ability to continuously be aggressive and know we’re going to get on the board, that’s a good feeling,” Happ said after beating the Orioles with a two-run, five-hit, six-run outing that included nine strikeouts and one walk.

The Yankees have a good feeling when Happ is on the mound, too, as he’s now 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his five starts since being traded on July 26.

Happ’s been good to great in all of his outings and the Yankees have averaged 7.4 runs in those games while winning 6-3, 7-3, 4-1, 10-2 and 10-3.

All that offense is allowing Happ to go after hitters a lot more than he normally would because an giving up a solo homer wearing a Yankees uniform usually isn’t as hurtful as it was when he was pitching for Toronto.

“I’m just trying to continue to pound the strike zone,” Happ said.

Still, Happ is a perfectionist and he was mad at himself walking off the mound after the second inning. Of the 38 pitches it took for him to retire the Orioles, one bothered him. He wished that he could had a mulligan on the 3-2 fastball that he left over the plate to No. 7 hitter Renato Nunez with two runners in scoring position.

Nunez laced the mistake pitch to left for a two-run single, giving the Orioles a short-lived 2-1 lead.

“I was upset about the base-hit with guys on second and third,” Happ said. “I left that ball over the plate, so I think that was the frustration. I just tried to get back at it after that.”

That he did.

After the Yanks scored four in the third to take a 5-2 lead – the big blow was a three-run homer by rookie third baseman Miguel Andujar – Happ returned to the mound and set down the Orioles 1-2-3 in the home third. After that, he worked three more shutout innings before Luis Cessa came on to pitch the final three.

By then Happ’s pitch count was up to 107 and the Yankees were cruising to the finish line with an 8-2 lead.

“The key for me in general was getting strike one,” said Happ, who was pulled with his pitch count at 107, 74 of them strikes. “I think I was pretty good at that today, especially as the game went on. That’s always a key to get ahead I the count and put them on the defensive.”

A Yankee for just one month come Sunday, Happ already is making his trade look like a steal even though he’ll be a free agent after the season. The Blue Jays’ return for ace-like pitching was just injury-prone infielder Brandon Drury (who is on the DL again) and midlevel outfield prospect Billy McKinney.

Happ, 35, was a first-time All-Star this season while going 10-6 with a 4.16 ERA in 20 starts for the Jays. He’s been a lot better as a Yankee and with his record now up to 15-6, he has a shot to win 20 games for the second time in three years.

Happ, who was 20-4 with a 3.18 ERA pitching for the 2016 Blue Jays, can get to 20 again by winning five of his six remaining starts.

Regardless of whether reaches that milestone or not, the Yankees love what they’re getting from Happ, whose hot streak has come at a time No. 1 starter Luis Severino has struggled to completely shake a rut that’s almost two months old.

“He’s been great,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Happ. “He’s given us exactly what we’ve needed. He’s been able to pitch deep into games and be efficient.”

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.