CC Sabathia's strong start in his return from the disabled list was undone by Stephen Drew's fielding misplays, Steve Pearce hit a tiebreaking, eighth-inning home run off Adam Warren and the Baltimore Orioles rallied past the New York Yankees 5-3 Wednesday night.
Baltimore had lost 15 of 18 and faded from postseason contention before winning the final two in the three-game series. New York began the night 1 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Toronto, which opens a four-game series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
Carlos Beltran homered and drove in three runs for the Yankees, who took a 3-1 lead in the third but got only one more hit.
Ubaldo Jimenez (11-9) allowed four hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked none. He retired 13 of his last 14 batters.
Darren O'Day and Zach Britton finished the four-hitter, with Britton saving his 32nd game in 35 chances.
Drew failed to cleanly field a grounder to second base in the first inning, eliminating the chance for a double play and leading to Baltimore's first run. He allowed two runs to score in the fifth, tying the game 3-all, when he failed to catch Chase Headley's throw on what should have been an inning-ending forceout.
Warren (6-6) relieved and held the Orioles scoreless until Pearce sent his 47th and final pitch into Baltimore's bullpen in left field. Chris Davis added a run-scoring double in the eighth against Brian Mitchell for his second RBI.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi gave top relievers Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances their second straight days off ahead of the Toronto series, and New York gave up tiebreaking runs in the late innings on both nights.
The crowd of 30,038 was the smallest crowd at new Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009, and the lowest for a Yankees home game since 2004.
Wearing a new brace on his surgically repaired right knee, Sabathia made his first start since Aug. 23 when he cut an outing short because of knee pain.
Sabathia left with a 3-1 lead with two outs in the fifth on the unseasonably muggy night after hitting Davis on the upper right arm, loading the bases.
Jonathan Schoop grounded to third, and Headley's throw to second was low but catchable. Drew allowed the ball to bounce past him and roll onto the outfield grass for an error.
His fastball mostly at 90-91 mph and peaking at 93 mph, Sabathia gave up four hits and three walks, and just one of the three runs off him was earned. He muttered to himself while walking to the dugout when Girardi removed him after 85 pitches.
Drew's shaky night began when he allowed Gerardo Parra's bouncer on what could have been a double play to bounce off his glove and face, limiting him to a forceout when he recovered. Davis singled in a run with two outs on a catchable soft fly that dropped in front of Beltran in right.
Beltran homered in the first, and New York took a 3-1 lead in the third. Jacoby Ellsbury's grounder took a hop and bounced off J.J. Hardy's midsection. With the ball on the dirt, the shortstop batted it with the inside of his glove's webbing to Schoop, who caught it with his bare hand at second just in time to force Drew.
