Orioles 5, Yankees 4: Nelson Cruz went 3-for-5 and stroked his major league-leading 40th home run while Nick Markakis added four hits – including a two-run shot – as Baltimore evened its four-game series in New York at a game apiece.

Ex-Yankee Kelly Johnson also went deep and Nick Hundley contributed three hits for the Orioles, who recovered from Monday’s one-hit shutout with 17 hits on Tuesday and improve to 26-0 when they record three or more homers. Ubaldo Jimenez (6-9) allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in five frames to win for the fourth time in his last five decisions.

Brian McCann homered for the third time in three games for New York, which saw its faint playoff hopes take another blow, falling five games behind Kansas City for the American League’s second wild card with five games left. Brandon McCarthy (10-15) struck out eight in 5 1/3 frames, but was reached for five runs on 11 hits.

Johnson drilled a 1-1 changeup from McCarthy deep into the right-field seats to lead off the second and Markakis singled up the middle later in the frame to stake Baltimore to a two-run advantage. Markakis doubled the lead in his next at-bat in the fourth, reaching down to line a 0-1 curveball into the stands in right-center before New York got its first run in the bottom half on a RBI groundout from Chris Young.

Cruz ended a 14-game home run drought to begin the fifth, lifting a 2-1 sinker just over the fence in left before the Yankees got the run back on in the sixth on Stephen Drew’s sacrifice fly. McCann made it interesting in the seventh when he followed Derek Jeter’s two-out single with his 23rd homer, but Tommy Hunter worked a perfect eighth and Zach Britton struck out Jeter in the ninth with a runner on to end it for his 36th save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Orioles (94-63) have guaranteed themselves their highest single-season victory total since going 98-64 in 1997. … New York pitchers struck out 11 batters on Tuesday and have tallied 1,319 this season, breaking a team record (1,318, 2012). … Cruz became only the sixth player in team history to record a 40-homer season.