Recap: Baltimore vs. Toronto

Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Steve Johnson tossed five scoreless innings, Adam Jones and Ryan Flaherty both homered, and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-1, on Monday in the opener of a doubleheader from Camden Yards.

Johnson (4-0) worked around three hits and three walks while striking out six to earn the win in his first start since Aug. 25. The rookie right-hander has a 1.62 ERA in 11 appearances -- three starts -- this season.

"This is what you look for: pitching in a playoff race," said Johnson. "It was great. The team was able to come up with a couple of big hits."

Jones went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer in the fourth and Flaherty added a leadoff shot an inning later for the AL wild card-leading Orioles.

Henderson Alvarez (9-14) gave up four runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings to take the loss. The righty walked three, struck out six and fell to 2-7 in his last nine decisions.

Rajai Davis had an eighth-inning RBI double for the Blue Jays, losers of seven straight games.

Toronto, which went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, threatened in the early going, but failed to deliver.

Johnson issued consecutive walks to start the game, then recorded a strikeout and a groundout before popping out Davis to escape the first unscathed.

The rookie also stranded a pair in both the third and fourth before Jones struck in the bottom half.

The center fielder's homer -- his career-high 32nd of the season -- came after Chris Davis' leadoff walk and traveled deep into the seats in left field for a 2-0 lead.

An inning later, Flaherty sent a 1-0 fastball into the Baltimore bullpen beyond the left-center field fence, where reliever Luis Ayala caught the scorched line drive in his hat.

The Orioles loaded the bases in the sixth courtesy of a leadoff single by Jones, a double by Matt Wieters, and an intentional walk, and Mark Reynolds followed with a doubleplay groundout to score Jones.

Troy Patton tossed a scoreless inning of relief for the Orioles before giving way to Tommy Hunter, who faced the minimum in the seventh, but allowed consecutive two-out singles and Davis' subsequent run-scoring double in the eighth.

Darren O'Day fanned Kelly Johnson to end the inning and Jim Johnson worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to lock up his 48th save of the season and Baltimore's seventh win in eight games.