Rain K’s Derek Jeter as cleanup hitter

Whew!...For a minute there, I thought Taylor Rain had turned down Jeter for “Un-natural #18”!

Riding the momentum from his first home run of the season, Derek Jeter was ready to put his power stroke on display again Sunday, but rain washed away what would have been his second career appearance as the Yankees’ cleanup hitter.

Jeter snapped his 128 at-bat homerless skid - his longest to start a season in his career - on Saturday.

“He’s hitting cleanup?” said an amused Mike Mussina after learning of the lineup. “He hits one home run and now he’s a cleanup hitter?”

Said Jeter: “I probably would have hit a couple of home runs.”

..."He’s not the conventional fourth hitter, but he’s very good in RBI situations - and he’s always been good,” Girardi said. “He’s going to hit wherever we put him. His approach is going to be the same.”