(Reuters) - Baltimore handed CC Sabathia his first loss of the season with a 5-2 home victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday that kept the Orioles tied for the American League East lead.

Adam Jones hit a solo home run in the second inning while J.J. Hardy, who had three RBIs a night earlier, stayed hot with two run-scoring hits to chase Sabathia (5-1) after six innings with Baltimore leading 4-0.

The Orioles (23-14), who lost 8-5 to the Yankees (20-16) on Monday, are tied for the division lead with Tampa Bay.

"Any time you face a guy like Sabathia, you have to get a well-pitched game to be in the ballgame," Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters. "You're not ever going to beat up on him. He's just too good a pitcher".

Baltimore starter Chen Wei-yin provided just the performance his team needed. He allowed a two-run homer to Curtis Granderson in the seventh but was otherwise strong over seven innings to improve to 4-0 on the season.

The Taiwanese rookie surrendered just four hits and at one point retired 10 straight batters before the seventh.

"He's sneaky," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said of Wei-yin.

"It's not like he's throwing changeups. He gets it up there, 91, 92 (mph). He hits his spots. He knows how to pitch."

Jim Johnson tossed the ninth for his 12th save.

Sabathia, a Cy Young winner, was looking to start his campaign 6-0 for the first time in his career.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Amlan Chakraborty)