Jeter passes Aparicio with RBI-double

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SEATTLE -- Yet another Hall of Famer passed and milestone reached for Yankees captain Derek Jeter.

Jeter passed Luis Aparicio for most hits by a shortstop on Sunday when he fought off a pitch on his hands from Seattle rookie Doug Fister and sent it down the right-field line for an RBI double in the third inning of New York's 10-3 loss to the Mariners. His 2,674th hit as a shortstop came two innings after he had singled leading off the game.

"I just try to be consistent year in and year out," said the 35-year-old Jeter, who claimed to be unaware of the record coming into the weekend. "If you are consistent, good things happen.

"It's kind of hard to believe, to say the least."

He had eight hits in 16 at-bats in the four-game series with the Mariners.

Jeter also has 13 hits as a designated hitter in his career. His 2,688 hits are second in Yankees history, 33 behind Lou Gehrig.

"It's amazing what he has been able to accomplish -- and he still has a lot of baseball left," said New York manager Joe Girardi, who was Jeter's teammate from the shortstop's rookie season with the Yankees in 1996 through '99.

Jeter is batting .323 in 112 games this season. This is his 14th consecutive season with at least 150 hits, passing Gehrig for the longest streak in Yankees' history. It is the longest such streak among active players.

"That's unbelievable," Girardi said. "That is really unbelievable, the things he's been able to accomplish as you see the names that he passes."

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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