Jeter closer to being close to 3,000

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Derek Jeter has said since spring training that he planned to enjoy his pursuit of 3,000 hits, but he's not sure exactly how he'll do that.

"For a while, we weren't even talking about baseball around here, so you can't enjoy anything when you're not talking about baseball," Jeter said, a reference to the Jorge Posada saga from a couple of weeks ago. "Hopefully, we can stick to everything that's going on on the field. That's a beginning. But I don't know how to answer that."

Jeter entered Tuesday night with 2,981 hits, having collected at least one hit in his last five games.

Two weeks ago, Jeter said he wasn't thinking about 3,000 because he wasn't "close," defining it, smiling, as one or two hits away. After repeating that Tuesday, he relented.

"Probably whenever you get maybe under 10, somewhere around there, I'd say it's close," he said. "Now I don't really look at it as being close. We're around the corner, the next block, but still not close."

Jeter said he might feel pressure if he gets close during the Yankees' upcoming 10-game homestand June 7-16.

"That would probably be the only pressure thing, to try and do it at home," he said.

SEE PHOTOSDerek Jeter timeline

He's not yet ready to contemplate joining the ranks of the greats that have reached 3,000.

"Let me get there first," Jeter said. "Weirder things have happened, so let me get there first."

DH doings

With Jorge Posada 0-for-27 against lefthanders this season, Joe Girardi acknowledged what has been apparent for a couple of weeks.

Asked if the DH spot officially could be seen as a platoon position, the manager said, "You could look at it that way."

Tuesday night, Andruw Jones was the DH against lefthander Brett Anderson and Girardi said Alex Rodriguez was likely to be the DH Wednesday against LHP Gio Gonzalez.

Martin returns

C Russell Martin, a late scratch Monday night because of a sore left toe, was in the original lineup posted by Girardi Tuesday and stayed there.