The Baltimore Orioles' win over the Toronto Blue Jays eliminated the New York Yankees and Houston Astros from MLB playoff contention.

Ubaldo Jimenez pitched 6.2 strong innings as the Orioles shut out the Blue Jays 4-0 on Thursday.

The result left the two teams tied for the American League (AL) wildcards, a game and a half clear of the Detroit Tigers.

Weather saw the Tigers' clash against the Cleveland Indians postponed.

The Seattle Mariners are within two games of the wildcard after edging past the Oakland Athletics 3-2.

But the Astros, who did not play, and Yankees – who beat the Boston Red Sox 5-1 – were eliminated.

In the National League (NL), the San Francisco Giants maintained their one-game lead over the St Louis Cardinals.

The Giants claimed an 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies after the Cardinals had beaten the Cincinnati Reds 4-3.

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 9-4, the Tampa Bay Rays edged the Chicago White Sox 5-3 and the Minnesota Twins overcame the Kansas City Royals 7-6.

The Atlanta Braves were 5-2 winners over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates played a rare 1-1 tie and the Washington Nationals claimed a 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

CC CONTINUES FORM

With 7.1 innings of one-run ball on four hits against the Red Sox, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia surpassed everyone's expectations to finish the season with a 3.91 ERA. Across his last eight starts, Sabathia pitched to a 2.37 ERA.

CARDINALS WALK OFF

With Matt Carpenter on first, veteran Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hit a line drive to the left field corner in the bottom of the ninth of a 3-3 game to give his team a walk-off win and keep their wildcard hopes alive. The Reds tried to challenge the final play by saying Molina's hit was a ground-rule double but the umpires already left the field.

RARE TIE

Rain caused havoc in Pittsburgh as the Cubs and Pirates game finished in a 1-1 tie. It was the first MLB tie since June 30, 2005 (Houston and Cincinnati tied 2-2).

BLUE JAYS FACE RED SOX

Toronto still have work to do if the club want to make one of the two wildcard spots but a regular-season finale with the Red Sox could prove troublesome. Cy Young Award candidate Rick Porcello (22-4, 3.11 ERA) takes the mound for Boston while Marco Estrada (9-9, 3.53 ERA) looks to continue a streak of 14 innings of one-run ball over his last two starts.