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Nobody needs to tell Jeter it is October

New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter, had a career performance Tuesday night in the series opener against the Detroit Tigers. Jeter went 5 for 5, including a home run in his last at bat in the eighth inning. The MVP candidate led his team to an 8-4 victory and tied a postseason record with five hits. Jeter said the victory would be meaningless unless the Yankees won the series. In six of the Yankees? last seven postseason series, the winner of Game 1 went on to lose the series.

Jeter, whose career postseason batting average is .315, is familiar with playing in October. ?We?ve been in a lot of postseason games, so you can?t be afraid to fail,? Jeter said.? This year he seems to have a batting lineup that will take him late into October. Tigers Manager Jim Leyland calls it ?Murderers Row and then Can?.? And indeed, their five-run third inning burst was the most runs scored in a single inning in postseason play in six years.

While Jeter is at the top of his game, on what might turn out to be an MVP season, Alex Rodriguez, the reigning American League MVP, is hitting only sixth in the Yankees order. It is the lowest A-Rod has hit in a batting order in over 10 years, since batting eighth for Seattle. Monday night he was an unthreatening 1 for 4.