Bronx, NY -- (Sports Network) - Bobby Abreu's two-run homer in the fifth inning gave New York the lead and the Yankees held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.

With Abreu's deep fly, New York joined the Chicago White Sox as the only teams in history to hit 200 or more homers in seven straight seasons.

Robinson Cano had a pair of hits, including a home run, while Hideki Matsui went 1-for-3 with a run scored in his first game back in left field since breaking his left wrist on May 11. He easily handled all six attempts in the field.

Derek Jeter had two hits for the Yankees, who are tied with Detroit for the best record in the American League. The Tigers beat Toronto 4-3 on Tuesday.

Cory Lidle, who returned to the mound after being sidelined since September 13 with tendinitis of his right fore-finger, threw 6 2/3 stellar innings, providing added insurance to the Yankees and their postseason pitching rotation. Lidle (4-3) gave up three runs on six hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

"For being idle as long as he (Lidle) was I thought his command was good," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "I thought he showed good life on his pitches and I thought he threw a lot of strikes."

It was announced earlier on Tuesday that Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson (back spasms) will miss his final regular-season start on Thursday, which means that the lefty will not have thrown for almost two weeks by the time he takes the mound in the postseason.

Meanwhile, Torre did give an update on first baseman/designated hitter Jason Giambi, who had a third cortisone injection in his left wrist last week.

"Jason (Giambi) was really upbeat, he's liable to be in there tomorrow," said Torre. "He was ready to go and I just checked with Dr. (Stuart) Hershon and he said turn him loose. We'll see how much of a crowd we can put out there tomorrow. I'm certainly curious. Actually the more games we can get him, just to try to get his timing, the better off we'll all be."

Ramon Hernandez, Jay Gibbons and Corey Patterson all homered for the Orioles, who have lost three straight games. Kevin Millar tied a career-high with four hits and Miguel Tejada extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a hit in the ninth.

Rodrigo Lopez (9-18) was saddled with the loss, yielding two runs on three hits with five strikeouts in three frames. Hayden Penn pitched the first three-plus innings, surrendering two runs on four hits and three walks before leaving with a lower back strain.

"(Lopez) is having a tough year," said Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo. "You certainly don't want to see one of your guys (have 20 losses in a season)."

The Orioles jumped out to an early lead with a run in the second inning, courtesy of a homer off the bat of Hernandez.

However, the Yankees came right back and tied the score in the bottom of the frame. With the bases loaded and one out, Johnny Damon legged out an infield grounder to beat the double play, scoring Matsui.

Gibbons' solo home run to right-center field in the fourth gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead, but Cano hit an opposite field shot into the seats in left to even the score.

In the fifth, Jeter singled before Abreu launched the 1-2 offering from Lopez off the facing of the upper deck in right for a 4-2 margin.

The Orioles cut the lead in half in the seventh, as Patterson crushed a home run over the fence in right.

New York, though, got the run back off LaTroy Hawkins in the home half of the inning. Alex Rodriguez singled, stole second and scored on Gary Sheffield's base hit to left for a 5-3 advantage.

Baltimore put the tying runs on base off Scott Proctor with one out in the ninth before Jeff Fiorentino lined a run-scoring single to center, plating Patterson. However, Brian Roberts flew out to left and Melvin Mora flew out to center as Proctor picked up his first major league save.

Game Notes

Baltimore's Kris Benson (11-11) toes the rubber against Chien-Ming Wang (18-6) on Wednesday...Hernandez has five homers against the Yankees this season. With his homer, Hernandez tied a career-high for long balls and collected his 83rd RBI, surpassing Chris Hoiles in 1993, for the most in franchise history by a catcher...Perlozzo was thrown out of the game by first base umpire Bob Davidson in the sixth after arguing balls and strikes following the check-swing whiff of Tejada...The Yankees are one win shy of their sixth consecutive 95-win season...Lidle improved to 5-8 with a 5.25 earned run average in 17 games -- 13 starts -- versus Baltimore...Proctor is the first New York relief pitcher to throw at least 100 innings since Mariano Rivera in 1996...Cano has an eight-game hitting streak.