On July 9th, the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter lifted a home run into the stands in the third inning of an eventual 5-4 Yankees win over the Tampa Bay Rays for the 3,000th hit of his career. Jeter, who went 5-for-5 in the game, became the 28th player to reach 3,000 hits in his career and the first Yankee to do so.
With the Yankees trailing Tampa Bay 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Jeter lined up a pitch from Rays starting pitcher David Price and drilled it out of the park to tie the game. Though the homer tied the game at 1-1, the lead changed multiple times before a single from Ben Zobrist scored Johnny Damon in the top of the eighth and evened the score at four runs apiece.
But the tie score didn’t last long. The Yankees responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single from, yes, Derek Jeter to put New York up 5-4.
His 3,000th hit came in front of a sellout crowd of 48,103 in Yankee Stadium. Wade Boggs is the only other major leaguer whose 3,000th hit was a home run.
The Yankees currently stand at second place in the American League East Division, just a game and a half behind the Boston Red Sox.
