Jones homers off Rivera in ninth as O's come back to beat Yankees

Two outs away from a 1-0 loss and a 1-5 road trip, the Orioles handed Mariano Rivera a blown save and the Yankees a bitter loss. Adam Jones' two-run homer to left off the Yankees closer pulled the Orioles off the deck today and gave them a 2-1 comeback win over the Yankees. The O's were two outs away from a fourth straight one-run loss. But Nick Markakis singled to center and Jones hit his two-run shot to left for his first homer since June 18 vs. Detroit. Jones had gone 15 consecutive games without an extra-base hit until that blast. Rivera entered today 29-for-30 on the year in save chances, and he had saved 41 straight at home since 2011, the second-longest streak of his career. Jim Johnson, who suffered his sixth blown save against the Yankees on Friday night, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth today with two strikeouts to get his major league-leading 30th save. Yes, it was a day when Rivera blew the save and Johnson got one. O's starter Jason Hammel went five innings, allowing just the one run on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He threw 102 pitches, and the O's rally in the ninth took him off the hook for a loss. Hammel needed 54 pitches to get through the first two innings and 48 over the next three. It was a big ninth inning and big win for the Orioles, who went 4-2 against the Yankees the last two weekends and now head home for a seven-game homestand heading into the All-Star break.