MLB: Baltimore 5, New York Yankees 4

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BALTIMORE, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Mark Reynolds and Lew Ford smacked back-to-back homers Saturday and Baltimore survived a ninth-inning scare in a 5-4 win over the New York Yankees.

With the victory, Baltimore forged a first-place tie with New York atop the American League East

The Orioles' consecutive blasts came in the second inning and tied it up 2-2.

J.J. Hardy's run-scoring double in the next inning put Baltimore ahead for good. The Orioles shortstop added a solo homer and Ford knocked in another run in the sixth for a 5-2 advantage.

Joe Saunders (2-1) earned the victory with a 5 1/3-inning start, yielding two runs on five hits, and Darren O'Day followed that up with 1 2/3 scoreless relief frames.

The Yankees rallied late but came up short. They scored a run in the eighth and another in the ninth when they loaded the bases with none out against closer Jim Johnson and scored on Nick Swisher's fielder's choice grounder.

Johnson, however, earned his 42nd save when he induced Mark Teixeira to ground out into a double play, ending the game.

Alex Rodriguez belted a solo homer for the Yankees.