BALTIMORE -- New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi called his team's series finale against the Baltimore Orioles "probably the most important game of the year."

His team responded to the pressure.

Chase Headley and Austin Romine each had two RBIs and the Yankees avoided a three-game sweep by the Orioles with a 5-2 victory Sunday.

"You can't afford to lose three in a row to these guys," Girardi said. "We know they play really well in this building. We lost a tough one last night. To be able to bounce back today is important. It keeps us alive."

Despite the loss, Baltimore is still clinging to the second wild card in the American League.

New York reliever Luis Severino (2-8) picked up the win after entering for starter Michael Pineda in the fifth inning. Dellin Betances got his eighth save by throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the Yankees, who started the day 4 1/2 games behind the Orioles.

Adam Jones and Chris Davis each had two hits for Baltimore. The Orioles, however, went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

"We had a great series against these guys," Davis said. "We took two of three games. That's big this time of the year. You can't sit there and harp on the negatives. You got to move forward. I'm happy that we battled, proud of the way we battled, and we'll keep going."

The Yankees got off to a quick start against Orioles left-hander Wade Miley in the first when Headley provided a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI single. After Miley allowed a pair of runners to advance on a wild pitch, Romine delivered another single that scored two more runs.

Miley, who was acquired from the Mariners on Aug. 1, continued to struggle in the third as Rob Refsnyder led off with a single and Gary Sanchez walked. Headley then provided a 4-0 lead with an infield single.

"It feels great," Romine said. "(Headley) had a great game with two RBIs. That really put us up early. I was able to tack on a couple there in the first inning and that gave us some breathing room. It feels nice to go up early and be able to work instead of just battling every inning. It was huge for us."

Miley (8-12) allowed four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and four walks over five innings. He has lost four of his seven starts for Baltimore.

The Orioles got on the board against Pineda in the fourth on a fielder's choice by Steve Pearce that scored Mark Trumbo. Baltimore pulled to within 4-2 the following inning on a double by Pedro Alvarez that ended Pineda's day.

Severino entered and loaded the bases with one out. However, he escaped the jam by striking out Pearce and getting Matt Wieters to ground out.

"He came in and gave us some really big outs," Girardi said about Severino. "That's how we talked about using him. We have to win games and we're going to use him."

Brett Gardner added a sacrifice fly in the ninth to provide the 5-2 margin.

"We have to win games regardless of how we get there," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I don't care how it looks or how it happens, we need to have more runs than them after nine innings, or 10 or 11 or 12 and so on. It's a pretty simple equation right now."

NOTES: Yankees SS Didi Gregorius has been hit in the arm twice over the series and was held out of the lineup by manager Joe Girardi. Gregorius was available off the bench. ... Orioles LHP Brian Duensing (elbow) is expected to come off the disabled list and travel with the team to Tampa Bay for a three-game series beginning Monday. Duensing underwent surgery in June to remove cartilage chips from his left elbow. ... New York 1B Mark Teixeira got the day off after playing the previous night. Teixeira was wearing an ice pack on the back of his neck prior to the game.