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BALTIMORE -- Despite being out of playoff contention, the Baltimore Orioles continue playing with intensity. Just ask the New York Yankees. Paul Janish scored on the second wild pitch of the eighth inning by New York's Dellin Betances to give the Baltimore Orioles a 4-3 victory over the Yankees on Saturday and complete a sweep of the day-night doubleheader.
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The Orioles posted a 9-2 victory over the Yankees earlier in the day.
New York (87-74) needed only one win to clinch the home-field advantage in the wild-card round but again couldn't do it.
A Houston loss later would still take care of that, but if the Astros win, the Yankees' magic number remains at one heading into the final game on Sunday.
The Orioles have won four in a row and need a win in the final game on Sunday to finish at .500 and stay away from their first losing season in four years.
"We're just trying to finish the season strong," said third baseman Manny Machado, who homered for a fourth straight game. "We're out of the race and stuff, but we still have to keep playing baseball and try to finish .500. We play until the last out. That's the way we've played all season and we're not going to stop now."
They didn't stop in the second game, which was tied at 3 when the Orioles did something they've had trouble with this season -- manufacturing a run.
Janish, the shortstop, led off with a bloop single to right off Betances and moved to second on a wild pitch. The shortstop went to third when right fielder Gerardo Parra reached on a bunt single toward third.
Janish scored the tiebreaking run when Betances (6-4) uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning, with Machado at the plate.
"I pitched well, but unfortunately I gave up a run," Betances said. "I gave up a bloop hit to the first guy. Then I strike the next guy out. Then we're playing back right there with Parra ... (who) bunts and gets it down. I yank one of those pitches. There's nothing I can do."
T.J. McFarland (2-2) got the victory after throwing two scoreless innings for the Orioles (80-81) and closer Zach Britton came on in the ninth to post his 36th save.
But pushing across a run in the eighth inning made the difference, especially when it came against of the game's top relief pitchers.
"We got fortunate," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Paulie blooped one in there and got a wild pitch. And fortunate because he got one of the better defensive catchers in the league.
"You're not going to get a whole lot off Betances there, so we kind of scratched one across there. They helped us a little bit."
Power helped the Orioles again when Nate Reimold and Machado, who hit a home run in his fourth straight game, both went deep against right-hander Luis Severino, who settled down to allow three runs in seven innings.
Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez battled but made it through six innings, also giving up three runs, which set the stage for the eighth-inning fireworks.
The Orioles again jumped in front early, scoring twice in the first. Reimold led off with a home run to left on Severino's second pitch.
Severino later hit first baseman Chris Davis with a pitcher after two were out, and Davis scored when left fielder Steve Pearce doubled into the corner in left.
Davis got a bit of a break because the relay throw beat him to the plate, but catcher Brian McCann couldn't handle it and the ball squirted away.
Shortstop Didi Gregorius cut the lead in half with a second-inning sacrifice fly before Machado answered with a solo home run in the third.
The Yankees tied it with two runs in the fifth as they got hits from the first three batters, the last being right fielder Slade Heathcott's RBI double.
Jimenez hit center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury with a pitch to load the bases before walking designated hitter Carlos Beltran with two out to force in the tying run.
The Yankees now may have no choice but to win Sunday if they want the home-field edge in the wild card, and manager Joe Girardi said they'll be ready.
"It's kind of been like that all year," Girardi said. "We've been up and down. We've always seemed to bounce back when we need to bounce back. We've got to do it tomorrow."
NOTES: Orioles 1B Chris Davis hit his 30th double of the season in the opener. He has at least 30 doubles and 45 home runs in a season for the second time in his career (2013 was the other). ... RHP Mychal Givens continues to be a pleasant surprise in the Baltimore bullpen. The rookie, who used to be an infielder, threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in Game 1 and struck out two. He has 16 strikeouts in his last seven games with a 0.90 ERA. ... New York PH Rico Noel got his first major league hit in the ninth inning of the opener, an infield single that rolled slowly up the third-base line. ... Yankees RHP Ivan Nova continued his recent struggles. He gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings in the first game and is 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA in his last four appearances.
