Jeter's Got His Groove Back

Derek Jeter is hot. No ladies, not sexy hot, although we kind of understand what you mean, but Jeter is on a tear. Seven games after hitting a paltry .189, Jeter is now hitting .233, still well off his career average of .317. While Jeter's tear comes against Baltimore and Tampa Bay, there is no discounting the confidence that must have now.

In last night's victory against the Orioles (box score), Jeter went 4-5 with a double and two solo home runs. Despite leading by 5 runs when entering the 9th inning, the Yankees bullpen made the game more exciting than it needed to be. Tom Gordon gave up 3 runs and Mariano Rivera gave up 1 run. The tying run for Baltimore was on 3rd when B.J. Surhoff flied out to end the game, giving Rivera his 19th save of the season.

Jeter finding his bat is a little bitter-sweet for Gothamist. We're happy he's back to his old self, but we're kind of upset that we didn't trade for him in our fantasy league while his stock was low. We'll make do with our patchwork shortstop situation though.