Hearing from Showalter, Johnson, Markakis and Jimenez after 5-4 win

NEW YORK - Having already clinched their division, the Orioles knew it was time to rediscover their winning ways after losing three of their past four games. Zach Britton picked up his 36th save in 40 opportunities tonight by striking out Derek Jeter on three pitches to strand the tying run and complete the Orioles' 5-4 victory over the Yankees. The Orioles are 9-2 this season after being shut out in the previous game. They're 26-0 when hitting three or more home runs. Nelson Cruz belted his 40th home run, Nick Markakis collected four hits and Kelly Johnson went 3-for-5 with his first home run as an Oriole. Manager Buck Showalter indicated that Ubaldo Jimenez could make one more start. The only TBA is Sunday in Toronto. The Yankees' magic number for being eliminated from the wild card race is Billy Martin. Here's Showalter: On Markakis proving his value "Yesterday, he was ready to go. I said, 'Do you want to DH?' He said, 'No, I'm playing right field.' Today he really turned the bat loose. There was no caution there. I thought J.J. (Hardy) had some better swings tonight, too. I think we're starting to gear up a bit. We'll get Pearcey (Steve Pearce) back Thursday it looks like if things go well tomorrow from the BP standpoint." More on Markakis "I think more of it is everyone seeing Nick back swinging pain-free and like we know he can. It's more of a 'OK, that looks like that's going to be there for us as we go forward.' We're going to get Stevie back the day after tomorrow. It looks good. J.J. is starting to, I can tell by his body language, feel good about himself. We're probably going to give a couple guys off tomorrow. I made lineups up a couple days in advance. You see a lot of people moved around." On Jimenez "Command was better. Dave (Wallace) said coming out of the 'pen it was probably some of the best warmup and stuff he's had all year. He's sitting there at 92-93 some. Even though he walked some people, he got right back in the zone. ... But after that last outing, he had one extra day. I was proud of him. He might start again. Whenever the season ends to finish on a good note, it means a lot to him to contribute." On Cruz hitting 40 home runs "You know, he'll never admit it. ...He pressed all the time. Not presses, he pushes. Nicky said to me about 10 pitches after, he said, 'That's a lot of home runs.' And it is. That's a lot of souvenirs. I can't remember a cheap one. It seems like he gets his money's worth. He's been solid." Here's Johnson: On hitting a home run for Orioles after having three against them "I don't have many, so it was nice to get back on the board there and to score first, obviously, being the one that counted like that." On importance of winning "It is. Obviously, we've only got so many games left and then it's go time. It's time to start getting back to picking it up and winning. I think it's a little bit expected that you kind of drag a tad, but at the same time, there are five or six games left. Time to go." On whether he thinks of these games as Division Series audition or tries to ignore it "Both. You kind of know what's going on. It's just the nature of it. But at the same time you try not to think about it because when you do get the chance, all you can really do is play as hard as you can and do what you know how to do." On what's going through his mind with Jeter up in ninth "He's got a few more games, so there's always one more chance later on. I'm hoping that we're going to win that battle. Britton threw some great pitches. His ball moves so much, so hard. It is what it is. We came out on top this time." Here's Markakis: On whether he's feeling more like himself after shoulder injury "Yeah. Just trying to get the rest of the soreness out of there. I wanted to get in there yesterday to see where I stood. I came in today. Day by day it's getting better." On importance of scoring early after shutout last night "Yeah, especially with the pitching they have over there. Obviously, (Brandon McCarthy's) been pretty lights-out since he's gotten over there. One of those things where you're going to get good pitches and not miss them." On whether having best record in American League is important to him "Absolutely. Every game's important. Every chance you can get home field advantage is definitely big and we've still got five games left. We've still got some baseball to play and do some things that we want to do." On Cruz having 40 home runs "That's a lot of home runs. Forty home runs, those days don't come every day and he's been pretty consistent all year with his homers. Forty home runs is fun to watch and I know it's fun for him." Here's Jimenez: On how he threw "I felt good. I thought this was one of my best games in terms of commanding the fastball. I was able to use a lot of fastballs, getting ahead in the count after the first inning and working ahead." On his tempo "I didn't realize I was going a little faster, but I definitely knew mechanically that it was all working over my head. And it's definitely making things easier. I'm able to minimize the movement before I throw the ball." On the importance of Markakis in lineup "He's one of the hearts of the lineup. He's one of those guys, It doesn't matter who is pitching, lefty or righty, he is going to get it good or bad. He's going to try to find a way to get on base. He's one of the best hitters in the major leagues." On finishing strong "As a baseball player, you always want to finish strong. To be able to do that, it makes me happy."