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Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ not only tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball on Wednesday afternoon, striking out 10, he also joined Roy Halladay and Drew Hutchison as the only Blue Jays pitchers with two hits in a game at the plate in a 12-1 rout of the Mets in New York, giving Toronto its very first victory over the Mets in New York. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game:

GAME 43, MAY 16: JAYS AT METS

RESULT: 12-1 win (series split 1-1)

RECORD: 22-21

STREAK: W1

1—Happ provides relief with gem

Coming off his worst start of the season, J.A. Happ turned things around in a major way by not only tossing seven innings of scoreless baseball and striking out 10, but he also joined Roy Halladay and Drew Hutchison as the only Blue Jays pitchers with two hits in a game at the plate. His work with the bat was just a bonus, however, as Happ and the offence combined to give the key bullpen arms a much-needed break. Happ cruised all day long, allowing just two hits and becoming the first MLB pitcher this season to have three starts with nine-plus strikeouts and zero walks. Happ will take a 4.15 ERA with him to the mound next Tuesday in the opener of a key series against the Los Angeles Angels, the current favourite to grab the second wild-card berth and leave the Jays on the outside looking in.

2—Bats spring to life in matinee

The Jays offence limped into Flushing Meadows having averaged 3.8 runs in the month of May. They did little to change that in the opener with just two runs on six hits. But amidst a downpour at Citi Field on Wednesday, the bats pounded out 15 hits on their way to scoring 12 runs, the best offensive output since, coincidentally, they won in the rain in Cleveland on May 3. It's the first time the Jays have ever won on the road against the Mets.

3—Teoscar still providing the pop

Even as the strikeout numbers start to climb and the production starts to normalize after a scorching start, Teoscar Hernandez is still making all kinds of hard contact. Hernandez ran his hitting streak to five games Wednesday, hitting a two-run home run, his seventh of the season, and adding a single for his ninth multi-hit game of the season. Manager John Gibbons has used Hernandez in the leadoff spot quite a bit lately, but he was cleanup protection behind Josh Donaldson and Justin Smoak during the series in New York.

4—Donaldson showing signs of life

Slowly but surely, Donaldson is starting to heat up after going through an 0-for-14 stretch shortly after his return from the DL in early May. Donaldson came into Wednesday’s game with hits in five of his last six, and then went out and cashed a pair with an RBI single off of Mets starter Zack Wheeler. His numbers aren’t anywhere near typical production for him, but there are signs he could be ready to go on a tear at a key point in the schedule. The slash line of .242/.321/.465 looks pretty pedestrian right now, but don’t expect that to last if he stays healthy.

5—Bullpen shuffle continues

Prior to Wednesday’s series finale in Queens, the Jays recalled right-hander Danny Barnes and demoted fellow righty Deck McGuire, who had thrown 3.1 innings in Tuesday’s blowout. Expect the bullpen shuffle to continue as long as the rotation struggles to pitch deep into games, a trend Happ helped reverse on this day.

UP NEXT: RHP Andrew Triggs (3-1, 5.31) vs. RHP Aaron Sanchez (2-3, 4.08) on Thursday in series opener against Oakland Athletics, 7:07 p.m.

VLAD JR. WATCH: It was another stat-sheet-stuffing day for Guerrero Jr., who went double-double-single-homer-ground out in his five trips to the plate for his 19th multi-hit game of the season. The homer was his seventh of the year and it was his 40th RBI, which has him leading the Eastern League by seven. His average is now up to a ridiculous .415 in 34 games.​