Jack Flaherty was scratched from Wednesday's start against the Toronto Blue Jays because of general soreness, according to Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. Jack Flaherty was a little more cryptic in his answer when reporters asked why he wouldn't be pitching in the Orioles-Blue Jays game.

“Just sometimes, you don’t bounce back the way you want to and you just try to make the right decision of making sure that you feel right,” Flaherty said Wednesday, via MLB.com's Jake Rill.

“Throwing yesterday, just didn’t quite feel like I bounced back. And sometimes, those are the hard decisions to make especially when you want to take the ball every time out. It's just one of those things.”

The Orioles traded for Flaherty in a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals at the deadline three weeks ago. After giving up four runs in 11 innings during his first two starts with Baltimore, Flaherty had his worst outing since coming over from the Cardinals. He surrendered seven runs and eight baserunners in three runnings during a loss to the San Diego Padres.

For the season, Flaherty is 8-8 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP.

Baltimore beat Toronto 6-3 in the series opener. The Orioles-Blue Jays series has serious playoff implications.

The Orioles have a two-game lead on the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East and the best record in the American League. Toronto trails Baltimore by 7.5 games after Tuesday's loss. The Blue Jays are a game behind the Seattle Mariners for the third and final AL wild-card spot.