NEW YORK -- With one out remaining Aaron Judge was coming up with a chance to tie the game, and Gary Sanchez was next with a chance to potentially win it for the New York Yankees.

Needing to get the last out to salvage an otherwise lost weekend at Yankee Stadium, Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter decided to intentionally walk Aaron Judge and hope for the best with Zach Britton facing Sanchez.

Showalter guessed correctly when Britton fanned Sanchez to secure Baltimore's 6-4 victory over the Yankees on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

"They're both really good hitters," Showalter said. "You got to have confidence in Zach with either one. It came up heads (on the coin flip) today, tomorrow it might be tails."

"I liked my chances there," said Britton, who converted his 15th save but disagreed with the decision. "But it's not my call."

The Orioles wobbled to the last out of their second win in 11 games, seeing a five-run lead become a two-run margin when Britton came on to get the last out of the eighth with two on.

Britton allowed a one-out double to Jacoby Ellsbury, who took third on a ground out by Brett Gardner. Then Showalter instructed Britton not to pitch to Judge, who owns 11 of his 43 homers against the Orioles this season.

"If that was the case we'd walk just about all of them," said Showalter when asked if Judge's numbers against his pitching staff influenced the decision.

When Britton struck out Sanchez with a 2-2 fastball, it was one of few things that worked for Baltimore, which was outscored 30-10 in the first three games of the series and gave up 154 runs in losing 12 of 19 meetings with the Yankees.

"I was ready for the battle, if they were not going to pitch to him, they were going to pitch to me so I was ready for it," Sanchez said through an interpreter. "Unfortunately, I couldn't do it tonight."

Even though the move might have been first-guessed and second-guessed if it failed, there wasn't a doubt how it would turn out for Tim Beckham, whose 10th homer with the Orioles helped get them in position to shake hands after the final out.

"We got Zach Britton on the mound," Beckham said. "I'm thinking we're going to win the ballgame."

Sanchez's strikeout denied the Yankees a chance to move within two games of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. The Yankees never led and lost for only the fifth time in 17 games since Aug. 30.

"You feel pretty good, I mean Sanchez is a really good hitter with a lot of power," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Before the dramatic finish, the Orioles took a 6-1 lead on an RBI single by rookie Austin Hays in the second, a double by Trey Mancini in the third and Beckham's long homer to the left field bleachers in the fourth. Those hits came off Sonny Gray and the Orioles added their final run on a groundout by Seth Smith in the fifth.

Ubaldo Jimenez (6-10) made the lead stand by keeping the ball down in the strike zone, showing command and pitching with a good tempo. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out 10 of the 19 hitters he faced during a 100-pitch outing that ended with a strikeout of Gardner.

Didi Gregorius homered for the Yankees in the second, tying the club record for homers by a shortstop with 24. Matt Holliday added a two-run double off Mychal Givens in the sixth and Judge scored his 31st run against the Orioles on a sacrifice fly by Starlin Castro in the eighth off Brad Brach.

Gray (9-11) endured his shortest outing of the season, allowing five runs on six hits in four innings. He is 3-6 with the Yankees, though Sunday was the first loss where his teammates scored more than once for him.

NOTES: Baltimore CF Adam Jones (general soreness) was held out of the starting lineup for the second time in three games. ... New York manager Joe Girardi said RHP Masahiro Tanaka will start Wednesday followed by RHP Luis Severino Friday in Toronto, though he hinted it could change. ... The Orioles purchased the contract of LHP Tanner Scott from Double-A Bowie and designated RHP Richard Rodriguez for assignment. During the fourth inning, the Orioles announced Rodriguez cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. ... New York recalled RHP Domingo German from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ... Orioles 3B Manny Machado ended an 0-for-19 skid with a single in the third inning.