No surprise as Captain strikes first Subway Series blow

If you’ve been paying attention to these Subway Series games over the past decade, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to see Derek Jeter take Johan Santana deep in the first inning. The Captain has an impressive .381 career average against the Mets, the highest of any opponent ever against the Mets with at least 150 plate appearances. Last year, Jeter hit .440 with two homers and five RBI against the crosstown rivals, extending his hitting streak against the Mets to 15 straight games. And it’s not just the Mets. Jeter has been the king of Interleague play, his 254 hits against the National League leading all big-leaguers in AL-NL matchups. Jeter has a hit in 48 of his last 51 games against NL teams. The bottom line? Jeter thrives in big games. With the exception of October (or November, another month in which he’s done pretty well), there’s not much bigger than Yankees-Mets or Yankees-Red Sox. I’m guessing we’ll hear from him again during this year’s Subway ... [link]