MLB

Vintage Jeter re-emerges for Yankees in holiday rout

It was a slump-stopping afternoon for Derek Jeter and undoubtedly a performance that inspired some promise.

Jeter entered yesterday in a miserable funk, having gone hitless in 14 consecutive at-bats across four games. He also struck out six times during that span and banged into a pair of double plays.

But in the Yankees’ 9-1 rout of the White Sox in The Bronx, the old Jeter re-emerged. The Yankees captain delivered two hits and two RBIs, recording his first multi-RBI game of the season — which for Jeter is only 12 games old.

The reminder of vintage Jeter followed the misery of his performance against the Orioles on Sunday, when he struck out three times against three different pitchers.

“I felt comfortable [Sunday],” Jeter said. “Just didn’t have much to show for it.”

Yesterday, Jeter not only swung the bat better, but also showed encouraging signs with his legs. He has battled a broken left ankle, a strained right quad and a strained right calf this season, but in the first inning he raced to second after left fielder Alejandro de Aza misplayed his RBI single. Soon after that, he tagged up and went to third on Robinson Cano’s flyout to right.

“That made me feel pretty good,” manager Joe Girardi said. “And the fact that he got to second on the ball he hit. That made me feel better.”

Jeter actually started yesterday with a worse batting average this season than anybody on the Yankees’ active roster, a brutal .167 (7-for-42). Of course, that’s a small sample size, and nobody questions Jeter’s ability — the 39-year-old also started the day with a lifetime .313 average.

Jeter promptly banged an RBI single to left in the first inning to drive in Brett Gardner. He then reached on a sharp infield single in the Yankees’ eight-run fourth inning to bring home Austin Romine. That hit tied him with Eddie Collins for ninth on the all-time hit list with 3,313, just six behind Paul Molitor for eighth place.

Jeter has only 46 at-bats this year, so any slump is magnified, and with three stints on the disabled list, finding a hitting rhythm has been difficult.

“It’s been kind of a unique season,” Jeter said. “Now it’s just trying to have some good at-bats and swing at strikes and hopefully get some hits.”