Let Jeter rest to be fresh at home

CLEVELAND

Progressive Field rests on the intersection of Ontario, Carnegie and East 9th Streets, here in this struggling midwestern metropolis.

When the Yankees report to work here today for their final regular-season meeting with the Indians, they'll set up camp at the intersection of Sentimental and Sensible. Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi will meet at the midpoint.

With Jeter contributing two hits to the Yankees' 9-2 shellacking of the Indians Tuesday night, increasing his career total to 2,996, there's virtually no chance that Girardi will put his captain in the starting lineup Wednesday night.

No, Jeter surely will rest here, then play in the entire four-game series at Yankee Stadium against Tampa Bay, starting tomorrow night, in the hopes of getting four more hits to reach the 3,000 milestone in front of the home crowd.

It will please Yankees fans. It will please Yankees ownership. It won't please Jeter to sit Wednesday, but he'll survive.

Most important, it should help the team, long-term, to rest the 37-year-old as he's still working up his strength following his stay on the disabled list.

SEE PHOTOSDerek Jeter timeline

"I think he needs to have a day," Girardi said. " . . . I just think that makes sense."

Girardi may not pick up every subtlety, like when A.J. Burnett is unraveling on the mound, but he surely gets this one. He knows how much everyone in the Yankees' organization wants Jeter to attain the milestone at home.

Out of respect for Jeter, Girardi said that he would speak with his shortstop, then sleep on the decision. That prompted Jeter to joke to reporters that he would take off before Girardi tracked him down to chat.

Jeter's first hit, leading off the game, was a nubber to third base that Cleveland's Orlando Cabrera couldn't handle and that Jeter probably would've beaten out, anyway. The second hit did more damage; a booming double to centerfield, it drove home two runs during a five-run Yankees frame.

He then went hitless in his next four at-bats, setting himself up to need four hits in four games in the Bronx.

"He's four hits away. My concern is us winning ballgames and him being healthy," Girardi said. "Would it be great if it happened at home? Yeah. But you can't predict what happens. So I'm not going to try."

The nightmare scenario would present itself if Jeter can't complete his assignment, carrying the task over the All-Star break and into an eight-game road trip to open the schedule after the break.

That would bring forth more of the negativity that Jeter deplores. As he said late Tuesday night: "It's kind of hard to enjoy it when there's a lot of negativity that's out there. Hopefully, I might be able to enjoy these next few days."

He added, upon a follow-up question: "It has been difficult when I'm constantly asked the questions that are a little bit different. But to be honest with you, I'm going to try to enjoy it from now on and try to keep things as positive as we can."

Hmm. The "negativity" and "questions that are a little bit different" presumably referred to his poor play, and the impressive play of rookie Eduardo Nuñez during Jeter's absence. It's the bottom-line stuff on which Jeter -- who considers any season that concludes without a World Series title to be an outright failure -- prides himself. Except when he's the one not meeting the bottom line.

He'll get through it. He'll have his moment of glory in the right place. If there's a positive byproduct of Jeter's fade, it's that they can get by pretty well without him for a day.