O's top Blue Jays; magic number is 1

Baltimore, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Flaherty hit a two-run homer, Adam Jones had three hits and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2, on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.

The AL East-leading Orioles' magic number to clinch their first division title since 1997 is now one with 12 games remaining. They can wrap it up on Tuesday.

"I've lost a lot of sleep since I've been here for different reasons," said Orioles manager Buck Showalter, "but tonight I look forward to losing that sleep."

Wei-Yin Chen (16-4) pitched 5 2/3 innings and remained unbeaten in his last seven starts. The left-hander gave up nine hits, two runs and a walk and struck out six.

The Orioles have won eight of their last nine, are 11-4 this month and lead the division by 12 1/2 games.

Jose Reyes had three hits and scored two runs for the Blue Jays, who have lost three of their last four. Marcus Stroman (10-6) took the loss after giving up five runs in six innings.

Reyes, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion hit consecutive singles off Chen to start the game, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead. Jones' RBI infield single highlighted a two-run bottom of the first inning that gave Baltimore the lead for good.

Jones singled in the third inning, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Nelson Cruz's hit and Flaherty's seventh homer of the season in the fourth made it 5-1.

Reyes scored his second run on Danny Valencia's single after leading off the fifth with a hit, pulling the Blue Jays within 5-2.

Zach Britton picked up his 35th save for Baltimore, but not without a little bit of drama. He pitched around a single by Reyes and a walk to Bautista, getting a key force play at second base that was upheld upon review.

Game Notes

Chen is 4-0 in his last seven starts and the Orioles are 5-2 in those games ... Toronto stranded 11 men on base and was 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.