TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays could not figure out Ubaldo Jimenez on Thursday night and it dropped them into a tie for the American League's first wild-card spot with the Baltimore Orioles.

Jimenez stymied the Blue Jays on one hit over 6 2/3 innings to lead the Orioles to a 4-0 victory.

"Boy, he was solid," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. "He had both sides of the plate, stayed aggressive and didn't let them get comfortable. You could tell he was a confident pitcher tonight."

The Orioles (87-72) took the rubber match of the three-game series after the Blue Jays (87-72) won the opener. Baltimore's victory eliminated Houston and the New York Yankees from wild-card contention.

"Jimenez was really good tonight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "You have to give him credit. He basically shut us down."

Baltimore visits the New York Yankees for a three-game series to conclude the regular season while Toronto travels to Boston.

"You have to stay positive in this game," Gibbons said. "Sometimes you just get beat. Sometimes they outplay you. Sometimes they outpitch you. That's the reality. Boston is a tough place to play but our guys play pretty good there. I'm not worried about our guys. We've got our backs up against the wall but we're in a good spot. It won't be easy, it's not supposed to be easy up here."

Jimenez (8-12) walked three and struck out five in winning for the third time in five starts in September.

"Everything was good," Jimenez said. "The sinker was down, all of my breaking balls were good. I was able to throw them in any count. It felt amazing. All of the guys know what we're playing for and everyone is doing their part."

Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman (9-10) allowed nine hits, two walks and four runs in seven-plus innings. He struck out three in losing his fifth straight decision.

"I thought Stroman pitched a nice game but we couldn't get anything going," Gibbons said.

Stroman said the Blue Jays remain confident.

"The team mentality has never changed, not once," Stroman said. "We're fine, we're fine.

"We'll take the same mentality and confidence into Boston, and hope we go in there and get some wins. ... Every single guy in this clubhouse has the capability of turning it around at any time. We're hoping our luck starts to change and we go into Boston firing and hopefully get three wins."

The Blue Jays had a single by Ezequiel Carrera to lead off the first followed by walk by Josh Donaldson.

Jimenez retired the next six batters before walking Devon Travis to lead off the third, then retired 11 in a row before walking Edwin Encarnacion with two out in the sixth.

Michael Bourn walked and stole second to open the seventh. J.J. Hardy failed to advance the runner with his groundout to shortstop and Bourn stayed at second when Adam Jones flied to the wall in center field.

Hyun Soo Kim singled to right to score Bourn to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead.

Jimenez was removed with two out in the seventh for left-hander Donnie Hart, who ended the inning on a groundout to shortstop by pinch hitter Melvin Upton Jr. .

The Orioles led 4-0 in the eighth after a leadoff double by Mark Trumbo followed by an RBI single by Matt Wieters.

Brad Brach replaced Hart in eighth and allowed a leadoff single to Kevin Pillar, the Blue Jays' second hit of the game. After Travis struck out, Carrera hit a double-play grounder to shortstop.

Brach allowed a one-out double to Encarnacion in the ninth and a balk moved him to third. Jose Bautista struck out for the third time and Russell Martin grounded out to short to end the game.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by Manny Machado. It scored J.J. Hardy, who led off with a double and took third on a groundout to first by Jones.

Kim walked, Machado hit a fly to deep center that brought Hardy home.

The Orioles had runners at the corners in the fourth after one-out singles by Chris Davis and Jonathan Schoop.

Davis scored for a 2-0 lead when Michael Bourn's fielder's choice grounder to third forced Schoop at second.

"This time if year, momentum is huge," Wieters said. "Over 162 (games), momentum is going to come and go but once you start getting close to the playoffs, momentum is big. We're going to try and keep it going as long as we can."

NOTES: Blue Jays 2B Devon Travis (sore left shoulder) returned to the lineup Thursday. He left the game Monday in the sixth inning after the shoulder hampered his swing following his participation in the second-inning bench-clearing incident with the New York Yankees. He did not play Tuesday or Wednesday. ... Orioles OF Hyun Soo Kim started in left field Thursday after hitting a pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth inning that gave Baltimore a 3-2 victory Wednesday. ... Toronto promoted Joe Sheehan to assistant general manager, appointed Perry Minasian to special assistant to the GM and hired Steve Sanders as amateur scouting director. ... Toronto RHP Marco Estrada (9-9, 3.53 ERA) faces Boston RHP Rick Porcello (22-4, 3.11) at Fenway Park on Friday. ... Baltimore RHP Yovani Gallardo (5-8, 5.63 ERA) starts at Yankee Stadium on Friday. New York's starter will be RHP Michael Pineda (6-11, 4.68).