Jeter blasted a three-run shot to the opposite field off Baltimore reliever Josh Towers, giving New York an 8-5 lead after eight innings. Mike Stanton, who pitched the eighth, improved his record to 3-1. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save of the season.

"We played well on the defensive side," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "It's nice to look up and down that lineup and get home runs, especially from three guys who didn't get off to the start you'd like for them to get off to."

Those three players were Jeter, David Justice and Bernie Williams, each of whom contributed a home run to the Yankees' victory -- their sixth in six tries against the Orioles this season.

Justice, who was mired in a 14-for-96 slump entering the game, played left field, as Torre tried to break him out of his hitting funk.

"I don't really put a whole lot of stock in it other than it does monopolize his time a little more," said Torre of the effect that playing the field has on Justice's bat. "Sometimes hitting gets too complicated by thinking too much about it. The fact that he plays the outfield keeps him from thinking about too many things. I don't see a problem with DJ going back to DH."

Yankees starter Ted Lilly allowed a run in each of the first two innings, but had settled down after the fourth inning, beginning the fifth with a 4-2 lead. But the fifth inning brought problems for the 25-year-old, as it has done in his previous start last week against Baltimore.

With a 4-2 lead and a potential win in sight, Lilly allowed a leadoff double to Brook Fordyce, followed by a Mike Bordick double two batters later. He was lifted in favor of Brian Boehringer after Jeff Conine's single tied the game. Boehringer would allow Conine to score, giving the Orioles a 5-4 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth.

Lilly allowed five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He didn't walk a batter, striking out five Orioles.

"Both times, Fordyce led off the inning with a hit. If you go out there and you're letting the first guy get on, you're making it tougher than it should be," said Lilly of his two outings against Baltimore. "I was disappointed, but I was making it tougher. It was a close game, and I had to go out there and get outs. I was putting runners on base and it put us in trouble."

"He's aggressive," said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. "He throws strikes, and while today wasn't his best day, he still kept us in the game. That's all you need from a guy like that."

"He's just going to have to approach the fifth inning like any other inning. Just go out there with blinders on, where he doesn't have to think that way," said Torre. "You'd like to be able to give him an opportunity to win, but he's got to pick up his end of it. His stuff is good, he's in our rotation, which is a feather in his cap because we've had trouble filling that spot."

Williams tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, taking Orioles starter Jason Johnson's 2-1 offering deep over the fence in right-center field.

Johnson went five innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits. He walked two and struck out just one batter.

Orioles reliever Josh Towers started the sixth, keeping New York off the scoreboard for two innings. With two outs and no one on base in the eighth, it looked like Towers was headed for his third shutout inning.

Scott Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch hit back-to-back singles to keep the inning alive for New York, bringing Jeter to the plate. Jeter took a 2-1 pitch from Towers the opposite way for his second home run of the season, putting the Yankees on top and setting the stage for Rivera to close it out.

"It's been a good couple of days," said Jeter. "Yesterday was probably the best day, my sister gets that over with. Now, we're starting to play a little better and we've won the last couple of days. I don't have any complaints."

The Yankees remain a half-game ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. With the win, their record against teams under .500 remained perfect, improving to 15-0.

Sunday, Orlando Hernandez (0-4, 4.97 ERA) goes for his first win of the season, as well as a series sweep for New York, as he opposes Baltimore's Jose Mercedes (0-6, 6.95) in the finale of the three-game series.