Baltimore, MD – Aaron Laffey and five Toronto Blue Jays relievers shut out the wild card-leading Baltimore Orioles, 4-0, in the third meeting of a four-game series at Camden Yards.
Laffey (4-6) allowed five hits -- all singles -- and did not issue a walk over 5 2/3 innings to earn his first win since Aug. 5.
Casey Janssen left the bases loaded in the ninth to anchor a strong bullpen effort, while Yan Gomes had two of Toronto's 13 hits and drove in a run.
The Blue Jays won the back end of a doubleheader on Monday to stop a seven- game slide, and they again played spoiler Tuesday as the outcome kept the Orioles from gaining ground on the AL East-leading Yankees.
New York lost to the Twins on Tuesday, keeping Baltimore 1 1/2 games back.
Joe Saunders (2-3) was charged with four runs -- three earned -- on 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings for Baltimore, which has lost three of its last four.
Brett Lawrie opened the game with a base hit and scored on Gomes' two-out single to left field.
Rajai Davis, who missed a home run by less than a foot in the first frame, scored on Adeiny Hechavarria's two-out double in the fourth inning, and the Jays added two more in the seventh.
J.P. Arencibia led off the inning with a single, and Orioles third baseman Manny Machado bobbled Anthony Gose's subsequent sacrifice bunt to put runners on first and second.
Colby Rasmus' RBI single two batters later signaled the end of Saunders' night, and Edwin Encarnacion greeted Luis Ayala with another run-scoring base hit.
Laffey allowed only one baserunner past first in his outing, but exited after Adam Jones beat out an infield single with two outs in the sixth.
Steve Delabar came in from the bullpen and stranded Jones, then was pulled with two on and one out in the seventh. Brett Cecil struck out the only batter he faced -- pinch-hitter Jim Thome -- and Brandon Lyon erased pinch-hitter Ryan Flaherty on a routine grounder.
Darren Oliver set down the top of Baltimore's order in succession in the eighth before Janssen made things interesting in the ninth.
Mark Reynolds reached on a Yunel Escobar's error, and a pair of two-out walks to Machado and Thome filled the bags for Flaherty, who popped up the first pitch he saw to center field to secure the Toronto's 10th shutout of the season.
Game Notes
All nine hitters in Toronto's order had at least one hit, though Hechavarria's double was the only one that went for extra bases ... Laffey was 0-4 in his previous eight appearances ... This was the ninth time Baltimore has been shut out ... J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters each had two hits for the Orioles, who will pit Miguel Gonzalez against Carlos Villanueva in the series finale on Wednesday.
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