HITTING HIS STRIDE: Derek Jeter connects for his 3,283th career hit, an RBI single that tied him with Willie Mays for 10th on the all-time hits list. (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
BOSTON — Derek Jeter continues to get the job done and continues to reach milestones — even on one ankle.
Jeter started at designated hitter and matched the great Willie Mays in hits with a soft single to center in the seventh inning that drove in the Yankees’ second run in their 2-0 win over the depleted Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The victory kept the Yankees even with the Orioles for first place in the AL East.
You wouldn’t expect Jeter to miss any of these games, would you?
Jeter owns 3,283 hits, tying him with Mays for 10th place on the all-time list. Now Terry Cashman can sing, “Willie, Mickey and Jete.’’
If you’re Talkin’ Baseball, you’re talking Derek Jeter.
“He was playing on one ankle, maybe one and a quarter,’’ an impressed Joe Girardi said.
Just call him Captain Crutch.
Jeter, of course, said he was “fine’’ and could have played shortstop. Still, it took him nearly 40 minutes to come to his locker after the game because of treatment on his left ankle. He has a painful bone bruise on the ankle, and aggravated the injury Wednesday night racing down the first base line.
“I don’t like to sit out,” Jeter said. “When I come here I want to play. I expect to play. I don’t think it has anything to do with the time of year.”
Tying Willie Mays, “in anything,’’ Jeter said, “is pretty special. It’s kind of hard to think about it now because we’re trying to win games, especially this time of year, but I’d be lying to you if I didn’t think it was special.’’
The genius of Jeter is that he looks at every game the same way. It’s all baseball. He doesn’t put undue pressure on himself because winning that game is all that matters. If the Yankees win, then it is a good day.
Girardi removed Jeter from Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Red Sox in the eighth inning, and this injury figures to bother Jeter for quite some time and after his hit last night, he was noticeably limping as he took his lead off first base, but said, “Everything is good. I’m fine. I was ready for short [Wednesday] night.’’
Jeter, 38, continues to amaze. He has 195 hits this season, a nine-game hitting streak and is batting .323.
“When he says he is great, he isn’t great,’’ Girardi said. “ ‘Is it tolerable?’ is a better question to ask him. You can tell by his face how he really feels.’’
Girardi was not about to tell Jeter he could not play. The Yankees’ manager knows how important each game is now. You tolerate the pain and play. That is the name of the winning game.
Jeter, who first felt the injury in Tampa Bay last week, limped through pregame drills after receiving treatment.
“You see it happen, it’s running the bases, you don’t see it happening playing shortstop,’’ Girardi said. “We have to manage it the best we can. We all understand what he has done.”
More importantly, at this time of year the Yankees know what Jeter can do. He gets the job done no matter what. This will be a special New York weekend as the Yankees take on the Rays for three games beginning tonight at Yankee Stadium. Jeter’s first hit of the series will move him ahead of Mays, such an iconic name.
On Wednesday night, Jeter moved past Mel Ott in career runs. Every day seems to bring another Hall of Fame name to Jeter’s career. His critics thought he was done last season after he suffered a calf injury, but Jeter used that time rehabbing in Tampa to go back to his old swing, working with Gary Denbo. That swing has stood the test of time. That swing gets the job done.
This is the 11th season Jeter has recorded at least 190 hits. He will soon reach 200 hits, giving him eight seasons of hitting that milestone, tying Lou Gehrig’s Yankees record.
The hits and milestones continue, even on one ankle.