Derek Jeter has gone out a winner in his final game at Yankee Stadium, and he had a lot to do with the victory.
The Yankees blew a 5-2 lead in the ninth before Jeter delivered a walkoff single in the bottom half to lift the Bombers past Baltimore 6-5. Yankees players rushed out to engulf him as former teammates such as Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Tino Martinez and Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre lined up near the New York dugout waiting to greet Jeter. He went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and a run scored, giving him 1,310 runs batted in and 1,923 runs scored in his 20-year career.
Jeter hit an RBI double in his first at-bat before scoring on a grounder later in the inning. The game was tied 2-2 with the bases loaded in the seventh inning when Jeter hit a weak grounder that J.J. Hardy threw away for an error, allowing two runs to score.
The Orioles tied the game on ninth-inning homers by Adam Jones and Steve Pearce before Jeter furnished the heroics one final time in the Bronx.
It was the culmination of an eight-game final homestand for the future Hall-of-Fame shortstop, a week-long happening that saw fans stand with each at-bat, take pictures and videos while chanting Jeter's name and laud him with sustained ovations. He hit .353 with nine RBIs and five runs scored in 34 at-bats during the homestand after his average dropped to .249.
And apparently, no price was too high to be part of the festivities. Tickets on the secondary market for home game number 1,391 in Jeter's 20-season career were going for $248 in the bleachers up to $10K in section 19, right next to the Yankees dugout.
