Jones gives Orioles early lead (Cruz homers)

NEW YORK - The Orioles will give it another try this afternoon.

They have a 1-0 lead over the Yankees on Adam Jones' solo home run with two outs in the top of the first inning. Jones jumped on a 90 mph fastball from left-hander Vidal Nuno, the ball disappearing into the seats in left field.

The Orioles are 25-8 when they score first.

The sound of Jones making contact was loud enough to be heard by reporters over the Tino Martinez press conference being piped into the press box at full volume.

(It's Tino Martinez Day at Yankee Stadium. It better come with a bobblehead or T-shirt or something.)

Jones was 1-for-13, or 2-for-17 if you go back further, before hitting his 13th home run of the season.

Bud Norris walked two batters in the bottom of the first, no doubt causing manager Buck Showalter to break out in hives. However, Caleb Joseph threw out Brett Gardner trying to steal.

Gardner was 15-for-16 in stolen base attempts before today. Joseph is 9-for-19 throwing out runners, according to baseball-reference.com.

That's why Joseph continues to get the bulk of the starts behind the plate.

Last night, Carlos Beltran hit the first walk-off home run against the Orioles since James Loney on Sept. 23, 2013 at Tropicana Field.

Update: Nelson Cruz homered for the second time in three games, his two-run shot in the fourth increasing the lead to 3-0. He hadn't homered since June 3 before rediscovering his power stroke.

Jones led off the inning with a walk and Cruz went to the opposite field for his 23rd home run of the season. He has 60 RBIs.

Norris has thrown 47 pitches in three scoreless innings. He's allowed one run in his last three starts over 17 2/3 innings.