NEW YORK - In highlight form, last night's game at Yankee Stadium could be summed up with Derek Jeter's two-run single that gave New York the lead, and the flurry of home runs that buried the Orioles for good.

That won't be the way the Orioles will remember it.

The most mistake-free defense in the American League made plenty of blunders last night, including one that opened the door for the Yankees during a nightmarish, eight-run sixth inning.

By the time it ended, another Orioles comeback was forgotten, as the Yankees had handed them a confidence-shaking, 13-5 defeat.

"We just didn't play well defensively tonight, from the first inning on," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said. "You can't do that against a team like the Yankees."

Jason Giambi, Robin Ventura, Rondell White and Alfonso Soriano all hit home runs for the Yankees, who now lead the majors with 96 homers. The Orioles, for comparison, have 62.

The Orioles entered the night leading the AL with a .986 fielding percentage, but they committed three errors last night and made numerous other mistakes that won't show up in the box score.

In what wound up being a pivotal moment, Orioles first baseman Jeff Conine failed to convert a potential double-play ball with one out in the sixth inning. With a runner on first and the Orioles leading 5-4, Conine fielded a ground ball by Alberto Castillo and made a poor throw to second base.

Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick managed to keep his foot on the base as he caught the ball leaning toward third. His return throw was on the money, but Conine wasn't standing on first base when he caught it, and Castillo was safe.

Conine angrily slammed the ball into his thigh before returning it to pitcher Scott Erickson. Conine's anguish would worsen as the Yankees went on to score eight runs with two outs.

"Knowing you should be in the dugout hitting with a 5-4 lead, instead of watching them run around the bases, it's a bad feeling," Conine said. "I had an easy double play to turn, and I didn't turn it. I rushed a little bit. I had a lot more time than I thought."

With new life, the Yankees made the most of it. Soriano singled, Nick Johnson walked to load the bases and Jeter delivered a clutch, two-out single, scoring Castillo and Soriano for a 6-5 lead.

Hargrove pulled Erickson (3-6), who is winless in his past seven starts.

Seven of the eight runs charged to Erickson were earned, including four in the sixth inning. An error was not charged to Conine because baseball's official scoring rules say you can't assume a double play.

"It's a strange rule," said Erickson, whose ERA jumped to 5.01. "There are plenty of opportunities like that where errors actually don't count as errors. It counts against the pitcher, instead of the defense."

B.J. Ryan came on to face Giambi, a hitter against whom he's enjoyed terrific success. In seven previous career at-bats against Ryan, Giambi was 0-for-7 with four strikeouts, including a big one with the bases loaded Monday night.

This time, Giambi launched a towering home run that hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity before landing in the right-field seats. The three-run homer, Giambi's 16th of the season, put the Yankees ahead 9-5.

"I felt like it was time to try to get a matchup," Hargrove said of his decision to pull Erickson after 106 pitches. "It was obvious that B.J. didn't have the same fastball tonight that he had [Monday] night."

Bernie Williams singled, and Ventura followed with a two-run homer, his 14th of the season. Four of those have come against the Orioles.

Calvin Maduro came on in relief, and White greeted him with a home run. Soriano added his 15th homer in the seventh.

After committing just 30 errors in the first 55 games, the Orioles had two in the first inning. Johnson singled down the third base line, and left fielder Marty Cordova overran the ball for an error, as Johnson reached second. Jeter followed with a smash to second baseman Brian Roberts, whose hands looked hard as the ball bounced away.

Giambi made those mistakes hurt, when he smashed a two-run double over center fielder Chris Singleton's head.

"It definitely is not easier to pitch," Erickson said, "when you give a team five or six outs an inning."

Orioles tonight

Opponent:New York Yankees

Site:Yankee Stadium, New York

Time:7:05

TV/Radio:Comcast SportsNet/WBAL (1090 AM)

Starters:Orioles' Travis Driskill (2-0, 3.86) vs. Yankees' David Wells (6-2, 3.66)