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TORONTO -- Toronto starter J.A. Happ said he tried not to concern himself about what pitching counterpart Joe Saunders was doing on the mound. That proved impossible, as Saunders put in a dominating performance. He went five innings without allowing a base runner and surrendered just three hits as the Baltimore Orioles blanked the Blue Jays 4-0 Monday. "You try not to think about it but when youre out there you kind of know," Happ said. "You just want to give us the best chance you can but sometimes you try to do a little too much and be a little too fine. But I tried to stay aggressive. Saunders perfect game bid ended with two out in the sixth inning when Adeiny Hechavarria singled to centre. By then the Orioles had control of the game. "You try to keep making pitches, you try not to think about it out there," Saunders said. "I just hung a changeup to the nine-hole hitter." Saunders (7-11) held the Blue Jays to three hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings in his second start for the Orioles since they traded right-hander Matt Lindstrom to Arizona for him on Aug. 26. He lost his first start for the Orioles 8-1 to the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 29, allowing 10 hits and seven runs (six earned). "Today he settled in a little bit more," Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said. "He was definitely in control the whole game and was able to mix in different off-speed pitches." Saunders pitching and two runs batted in by J.J. Hardy gave the Orioles (75-59) their 20th victory their past 28 games. They are second in the American League East and have moved to within one game of the first-place New York Yankees, who lost 4-3 to Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays (60-74) are last in the division. "When I got traded over here they had a great thing going," Saunders said. "You just want to come over here and contribute as much as you can. You dont want to mess it up and get blown up a lot." Happ (10-11) stayed aggressive enough to strike out nine batters in five-plus innings. He allowed six hits and three runs (two earned) in dropping to 3-2 since joining the Blue Jays from Houston in a July 20 trade. "Their guy threw the ball real well," Happ said. "I was trying to be pretty selective in the pitches I threw to keep us in the game as best as I could. They chased me out of there quicker than I would have liked." The Orioles scored a run in the second on a sacrifice bunt by Nate McLouth. It scored Manny Machado who wound up on third after his fly ball down the right-field line eluded a sliding catch attempt by Moises Sierra who lost sight of the ball in the sun. Sierra was charged with an error. Happ allowed four consecutive hits and two runs to open the fifth before striking out the next three batters as the Orioles took a 3-0 lead. Robert Andino led off with a single and scored on a double to left by Nick Markakis. Hardy doubled for another run and stopped at third on a single by Adam Jones. "A long fifth inning, a 36-37 pitch inning, that seemed to take a lot out of him," Jays manager John Farrell said. "They were able to manufacture a couple of runs but he made a number of key pitches in that inning to prevent a big inning." Brad Lincoln replaced Happ after Machado led off the sixth with a double. Lew Ford walked and Andino sacrificed the runners to second and third. Markakis walked and Hardy bounced into a double play to end the inning. "I thought when he come for the sixth after the double to McLouth it was pretty evident the fifth inning had taken its toll," Farrell said. Luis Ayala replaced Saunders with the bases loaded in the seventh and ended the inning on a strikeout of Sierra and a fly out by Jeff Mathis. "He had some sink action to his fastball," Farrell said. "We made a lot of early outs particularly in those early and mid innings. He threw a changeup to right-handers to slow them down. But we didnt put many good swings on some pitches and he stayed out of the middle of the plate for the most part." The Orioles scored a run in the eighth against left-hander Brett Cecil, recalled from triple-A Las Vegas. Cecil hit McLouth with a pitch to start the inning, walked Andino with one out and allowed Hardys run-scoring single with two out. Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 17,220.....Catcher J.P. Arencibia (fractured right hand) was 1-for-5 with a double as designated hitter for single-A Dunedin on Sunday in the first game of his rehabilitation assignment. Dunedin did not play Monday and will begin the Florida State League playoffs on Tuesday. Arencibia is expected to rejoin the Blue Jays next week. ...Toronto will start Carlos Villanueva (7-4, 3.10 earned-run average) on Tuesday against Baltimore left-hander Zach Britton (4-1, 4.80 ERA). cheap jerseys us . -- Denise Ramsden outsprinted Olympic teammate Clara Hughes to win the womens road race Friday at the national road cycling championships. cheap jerseys . The star Scottish midfielder will suit up for his first game with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday as they visit the Colorado Rapids.HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros have hired John Mallee as hitting coach and added Dave Trembley to the coaching staff. The team said Friday that Doug Brocail will return as pitching coach and the team is bringing back Dave Clark. General manager said the exact jobs for Trembley and Clark will be announced later. The Astros have lost 100 games the last two seasons and have a new manager inn Bo Porter.dddddddddddd Mallee, 43, was the hitting coach for the Miami Marlins while Trembley, 60, spent the last two seasons with the Atlanta Braves. In 2000 with the Cubs, Trembley managed Porter in Porters first season in the majors. The Astros also named Quinton McCracken as their new director of player development and promoted Allen Rowin to be his assistant. ' ' '