CLEVELAND — Never before has a meaningless eighth-inning double created such a stir. Then again, no Yankees player has ever been three hits shy of 3,000.
When Derek Jeter doubled with one out last night against pellet-throwing Justin Masterson, you could almost hear Yankees fans everywhere start anticipating Jeter becoming the 28th player in history to reach 3,000 hits.
“Our fans are good when they get the opportunity to witness something that hasn’t happened before,” Jeter said. “I anticipate them being pretty animated.”
Jeter went 1-for-3 with a walk and was on deck when Brett Gardner made the final out of a 5-3 loss to the Indians that was witnessed by 31,926 at Progressive Field.
Now, the Rays pull into Yankee Stadium tonight and open a four-game series in which, by the time it ends Sunday, Jeter should reach the kind of milestone that turns players into a Hall of Fame locks.
Three hits in four games against pitchers he is batting a collective .322 (29-for-90) has put Jeter in position to get on with the rest of his season by putting the 3,000 hit to sleep. He is averaging 1.1 hits a game.
Jeter is 5-for-9 against tonight’s starter Jeff Niemann. He is 1-for-2 versus Jeremy Hellickson, tomorrow’s starter, and 6-for-25 off Saturday’s hurler David Price. Jeter is 17-for-54 against James Shields, who starts Sunday.
“I think it’s going to be great,” said Joe Girardi, whose thoughts of giving Jeter last night off vanished after two conversations with his leadoff hitter Tuesday night. “People have been anticipating it for a while.”
Jeter’s double was one of three hits the overpowering Masterson (7-6) allowed in eight shutout innings.
“His ball had the most movement we have seen all year,” said Jeter, who entered the game 5-for-12 (.417) against Masterson. Jeter fanned in the first, flied to center in the third and walked in the sixth. “He throws 95 to 96 [mph] with a lot of movement. We had three hits and one off the fastball. He pitched outstanding.”
Three runs in the ninth made it close, but when Chris Perez caught Brett Gardner looking for the final out the drama of having Jeter at the plate representing the potential tying run left the ballpark.
The third loss in four games coupled with the Red Sox winning shaved the Yankees’ AL East lead over their blood rivals to one-half game. It was the first series the Yankees lost since the Red Sox swept three from them June 7-9 in The Bronx.
A night dominated by Jeter and 3,000 hits housed Phil Hughes’ first big league game since mid-April, and the rust showed.
In five frames, Hughes gave up two runs, six hits, walked two and hit two. While his velocity was a lot better than before he went on the disabled list with an inflamed right shoulder— he averaged 91.51 on the four-seam fastball — he didn’t get any swings and misses on 40 heaters.
Boone Logan gave up Lonnie Chisenhall’s first major league homer in the seventh and Sergio Mitre surrendered a run in the eighth.
Jeter, who is 3-for-13 in the three games back from the DL, knows the spotlight is all over him. It’s not something he is comfortable with, but there is no avoiding it until he gets the hit.
“I am looking forward to it,” Jeter said. “I wish I had gotten more hits [last night]. I am looking forward to going back to New York.”
george.king@nypost.com