Derek Jeter Still Two Hits From 3,000

Derek Jeter's march to 3,000 will have to wait at least one more night (and two more hits).

The New York Yankees Captain's night started off well. His leadoff double to left in the first gave the crowd a jolt of electricity that they were going to see history. But then the Rays Jeff Niemann settled down and closed the history books with a strong performance and a 5-1 win on the Yankees home turf.

It's not often that a early-June game has the tension and excitement of a playoff game, but every time Jeter stepped into the batter's box the crowd was praying he would get a little bit closer to the 3,000 mark. He finished 1-5.

He had another solid drive, but Tampa Bay's Sean Rodriguez grabbed a hard-hit liner for an out.

Int he bottom of the ninth, Brett Gardner struck out, but reached base on a wild pitch, bringing Jeter to the plate one last time. But Derek's softly hit bouncer to Rodriguez got him one more out, still two hits away from the coveted 3,000th.

Jeter will take aim at becoming the 10th player to get 3,000 hits with one team tomorrow against the Rays at 7:05 ET, where he will go against the right-handed Jeremy Hellickson who has a 3.46 ERA on the season. In his career, Derek Jeter is 1-2 (.500) against Jeremy Hellickson.