The flashbulbs portion of the season has finally arrived. Winking lights from digital cameras, enlivening the outfield stands, greeted Derek Jeter as he began his final regular-season homestand at Yankee Stadium.
He has struggled offensively, and his physique is worn down, and he is, after all, on the cusp of retirement. But Jeter can always dig up a little showmanship when it is warranted. These last eight games would fit the bill.
The hopes of the Yankees ' claiming one of the final two wild-card spots are certainly dwindling, maybe shading toward foolhardy. But not dead, no, not when the Kansas City Royals are scuffling, and the Oakland A's are listing, and nobody else in the American League seems able to take advantage.
So there is faint hope in the Bronx, brightened just a smidgen more after Thursday's 3-2 walk-off win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
A leadoff single by Chris Young got things started in the ninth. The pinch-runner Antoan Richardson then stole second base, reached third on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Gardner, and scored on a ground ball by Chase Headley through the legs of first baseman Adam Lind.
Earlier, Jeter gave the fans what they came for, and then some, lashing a 3-1 fastball from the knuckleballer R. A. Dickey into the stands in left field in the sixth inning. The Yankees led, 1-0, at the time.
It was Jeter's first home run since Aug. 1, a drought of 158 at-bats. It was also his first home run at the Stadium all season, and perhaps a signal of what is to come throughout his final send-off.
Jeter's No. 2 was painted along each baseline, matching the logos all the Yankee players are wearing on their caps. Earlier in the day, Gatorade released a commercial celebrating Jeter's final weeks in the Bronx, to the tune of Frank Sinatra's 'My Way.'
'I've always liked the song,' Jeter said before the game. 'I thought it fit for what I'm going through. I'm happy we used it.'
Jeter's was one of the few hard-hit balls of the night, until the Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista tied the score with a two-run homer off Shawn Kelley in the eighth. That nullified an impressive pitching performance by the rookie Shane Greene, who limited Toronto to three hits in six and two-thirds innings, with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Yankees are in desperation mode, entering Thursday six games behind the Royals and the Athletics for the second wild-card spot. But Kansas City, which was off Thursday, has lost six of its last 10 games. Oakland has been even worse.
Other teams in the race like Seattle and Cleveland have not exactly come in hot pursuit. That at least provides the Yankees, after a 2-5 trip, some motivation to capitalize on the emotional lift of Jeter's farewell.
The game remained scoreless until the fifth inning. Dickey issued a two-out walk to Headley, and Stephen Drew jumped on the first pitch, sending it into the right-field corner. Headley scored from first.
Then came Jeter in the sixth. He had already reach base on an infield single in the first, but was thrown out attempting to steal second, after what appeared to be a mix-up of signs.
But in the sixth, Dickey fell behind Jeter in the count, 3-0, and then left an 82-mile-an-hour fastball up and in. Jeter sent it into the left-field stands, energizing what had been a quiet crowd.
Fans rose to their feet and appeared to want to coerce Jeter into giving a curtain call, but the next batter, Brian McCann, swung at the first pitch and grounded out to short, subduing the moment.
There will be plenty more. Jeter is well aware that this is his last hurrah, at least in the regular season. When he showed up at his locker early Thursday afternoon, a crowd of reporters had already formed.
'I just talked to you last night,' he said. 'Nothing's changed.'
Asked if he had had any chance to process this being the end of his 20-year career, Jeter said it was hard because 'it's all anyone's been talking about.'
'I want to just try to enjoy it,' he added. 'I want to play games and I'm looking forward to going out and playing.'
INSIDE PITCH
Masahiro Tanaka threw 32 pitches in a bullpen session Thursday afternoon and reported feeling fine. He is scheduled to make his first start on Sunday since sustaining a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament July 8. ...Carlos Beltran returned to the team after Wednesday's announcement that his wife, Jessica, had miscarried. Beltran did not start, but Joe Girardi said he was available to pinch-hit.
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