Happ on target in Jays’ win over White Sox

CHICAGO — It was very hot at Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday afternoon, but that was OK because Toronto Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ did a lot of fanning.

The big left-hander recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts to pace the Jays to a 5-1 win in the series finale against the White Sox. It was the seventh time in his career that Happ recorded 10 or more Ks. His seven innings pitched matched a season high. The Toronto attack was led by home runs from Steve Pearce and Josh Donaldson, his third homer in as many days. The Bringer of Rain also walked twice and scored twice. Justin Smoak hit a double, single and walked.

“I thought his fastball was explosive,” said manager John Gibbons. “As his game went on, he started hitting spots pretty good and he had a good breaking ball.”

Happ’s two-seam fastball has been a big pitch for him, but on Wednesday he seemed to go to a slider much more as a primary second pitch.

“Yeah, we tried to tighten it up a little bit, tried to use more of a cutter,” he said. “Definitely used it more and was able to get some outs with it. You use what you feel that’s working that day. I didn’t feel as good with my two-seamer today, so it was nice to have a couple of other things to rely on.”

The Jays now move on to Houston to begin a three-game series against the high-flying Astros on Friday.