Jeter starts fast but still needs two hits for 3,000

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters) - Derek Jeter thought he was going to make quick work of reaching the 3,000-hit mark during the home series against the Tampa Bay Rays after he stroked the first pitch he saw on Thursday into left-center for a double.

“That’s what I thought,” New York Yankees captain Jeter told reporters after going hitless in his next four at-bats in a 5-1 defeat that left him two hits short of the milestone.
“It’s always good when you get a hit on your first at-bat,” Jeter said. “Early on, I thought I’d have a few (hits), but (Rays pitcher Jeff) Niemann did a great job.”
Jeter admitted that registering his 2,998th career hit in the first inning marked the first time he had thought about the impending accomplishment during a game.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” said Jeter, who would become the 28th major league player and first Yankee to reach that total.
In returning to Yankee Stadium for the four-game series that takes the team to next week’s All-Star break, the pressure is on for Jeter to reach the target in front of the home crowd.
His parents cheered him on in the stands, the scout who signed him was invited to the Bronx to witness the achievement and nearly 48,000 fans urged him on.
Even his team mates began to offer encouragement.
“A couple of guys mentioned, ‘get three hits today’,” Jeter said. “Today was the first time that they’ve really focused on that. After the game they said ‘get a couple of hits tomorrow.’
“You think about it because everywhere you see signs. People are mentioning it. It’s still a little ways away.”
The 37-year-old Jeter nearly got one step closer when he ripped a shot down the third base line in the fifth inning that Tampa Bay third baseman Sean Rodriguez  dove to stop and then rifled a throw to first to get the out.
“It hurt my feelings a little bit,” Jeter said with a grin. “They were joking on the bench that I hit two or three balls a year down the third base line and he caught one of them.”
Jeter, who has won five World Series rings and played in two other Fall Classics during his 17-year career with New York, was more downcast about the team losing its third game from their last four.
“We’ve been facing some tough pitchers the last few days,” he said. “Hopefully tomorrow we can come out and score a few more runs.”