Orioles 6, Yankees 1: Mark Reynolds belted a pair of homers and Miguel Gonzalez recorded a career-high nine strikeouts over seven scoreless innings as Baltimore claimed the opener of a pivotal three-game series in the Bronx.

J.J. Hardy added a solo shot and Nick Markakis had an RBI single among his three hits for the red-hot Orioles, who secured their 21st win in 30 contests. Baltimore closed to within two games of the American League East-leading Yankees, who have dropped seven of their last 10 contests.

After Chris Davis plated Adam Jones with a sacrifice fly in the second inning, Reynolds deposited a high fastball from Hiroki Kuroda (12-10) into the second deck in left field. The two-run blast gave Baltimore a 3-0 lead.

Reynolds added insurance in the ninth inning when he greeted Derek Lowe with his 14th homer - a towering shot to left field - to help the Orioles remain one game behind wild card leader Oakland.

Pitching on 10 days' rest, Gonzalez (6-3) scattered four hits en route to defeating the Yankees for the second time this season. He struck out a then-season-high eight batters in a 5-4 victory on July 30.

Darren O'Day worked a scoreless eighth inning and Brian Matusz yielded a solo homer to Curtis Granderson before finishing the ninth.

Kuroda suffered his second straight loss after permitting four runs on eight hits in 8 1/3 innings.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Reynolds, who led the league in errors last season, made a brilliant stop in the field as he dove to his right to deny Russell Martin on a line drive in the third inning. ... Five of Hardy's 18 homers this season have come against the Yankees. ... New York's Nick Swisher struck out four times. ... Baltimore's Omar Quintanilla, who went 0-for-3, is hitless in his last 22 at-bats. ... Actor Kevin Costner was in attendance.