Derek who?
Eduardo Nunez returned to the Yankees’ lineup today after missing more than two months with an oblique injury and made an immediate impact, driving in a pair of runs — including the game-winner — in a 5-4 victory over the Orioles at the Stadium.
With the win, the Yankees leapfrogged the O’s into second place in the AL East by a half-game.
“The best thing you can do is help the team win,” said Nunez, whose stint as the starting shortstop figures to be brief because Derek Jeter played his first rehab game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last night as he closes in on returning from a twice-fractured left ankle.
Nunez made the most of his belated opportunity, sparking the Yankees’ season-high sixth straight win.
He knocked in a run in the second inning with a sacrifice fly and then gave the Yankees the lead for good with a sharp single to center in the sixth that scored Lyle Overbay.
Overbay just beat Adam Jones’ throw to the plate and was ready for a collision before Baltimore catcher Taylor Teagarden avoided contact.
“I looked at [Chris] Stewart and he was telling me to get down, so I knew the ball was coming,” Overbay said. “[Teagarden] kind of ducked out of the way.”
That was good enough for Joe Girardi.
“Just make it any way you can,” the manager said of his thoughts as he watched the slow-footed Overbay try to get home.
The play helped Andy Pettitte win his first game since June 8, as the left-hander survived a rough first three innings to improve to 6-6. Shawn Kelley struck out Manny Machado with the potential tying run on second to end the seventh. David Robertson tossed a scoreless eighth before Mariano Rivera picked up his 29th save. Orioles starter Chris Tillman (10-3) had won his previous six outings.
The work by the Yankees pitching staff may not have resulted in a win, though, without Nunez. He had been out since suffering the oblique injury May 5. He suffered two setbacks during his rehab and did not expect a call-up until next week.
But that changed Friday night when the Yankees decided to put David Phelps on the disabled list with a strained right forearm, opening up a spot for Nunez.
Though Nunez took just 16 minor-league at-bats in his rehab stint, Girardi said he was confident Nunez would be fine in The Bronx.
“[He] is kind of a free spirit, so I don’t think Nunez thought much about not having a lot of at-bats,” Girardi said.
Had Phelps not gotten hurt, Nunez would have stayed with Double-A Trenton. Some other guy was ticketed to play shortstop at Triple-A.
“Jeter’s in Scranton,” Nunez said. “We can’t be in the same place.”
Yet they may both be with the Yankees soon enough, which could put Nunez back on the bench.
The Yankees have a glaring hole at third base — journeyman Luis Cruz filled in there yesterday — but Nunez said he has not been working at the position.
For now, he’ll try to make up for lost time, and certainly gives the Yankees a better offensive option than Cruz or Alberto Gonzalez.
“He’s the guy who was kind of touted as an everyday player for a while,” Girardi said, in somewhat of a backhanded compliment. “He has the ability to really contribute offensively and do a lot of different things.”
But the manager knows one of the toughest challenges will be for Nunez to stay in one piece.
“We need to keep him healthy and get him out there,” Girardi said.
dan.martin@nypost.com