Yankees Put Derek Jeter Back at Shortstop for Game 5 For the first time in his 156-game postseason career, Derek Jeter was not the Yankees" starting shortstop Thursday night, with his struggling teammate Alex Rodriguez leading the defense onto the field to start Game 4 of their American League division series against the Baltimore Orioles. Jeter, who was held out as a precaution after fouling a ball off his foot in Game 3 Wednesday, served as the team's designated hitter instead, and Jayson Nix started at shortstop in his place. But with Jeter running unimpaired Thursday night, Manager Joe Girardi put him back at short for the decisive Game 5 late Friday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Rodriguez was left out of the starting lineup. Eric Chavez will play third base and bat ninth, and Raul Ibanez will be the designated hitter and bat fifth. Girardi joked with reporters before Thursday's game about Jeter's tendency to declare his health "great" regardless of how he feels. The Yankees had to watch Jeter in batting practice Thursday to make sure that he was not exaggerating, that he could at least have good at-bats even if he did not play in the field. During the game, a 2-1 Yankees loss in 13 innings, Jeter was 2 for 6 and legged out a double that led to the Yankees" only run. But he also fouled at least three pitches off the same foot that was bothering him and which he was trying to protect with an extra-large pad, which did not provide much help. "I was missing it," Jeter said of the pad. I hit my shin, I hit my heel, I hit pretty much everything except the same spot. Despite that, Jeter said he could have played shortstop in Game 4 and had no plans to be the designated hitter in Game 5. Girardi was less certain. "I won't know until tomorrow," Girardi said. We'll have to see how it feels. Jeter is famous for playing while banged up and for maintaining an even keel no matter how much pressure may be building around him. Facing a decisive Game 5, he seemed predictably unfazed. "I don't think it's any different if you take the same approach every single day," Jeter said of the notion that Game 5 could make players tense up. I think if you take the approach in Game 1 or Game 2 that it's not a big deal, and then it's a Game 5 or a Game 7, and all of a sudden your emotions change. But if you always play the game like it's a must-win situation, absolutely nothing changes. To date, Jeter has played in the decisive game of a five- or seven-game postseason series on eight other occasions and has never failed to record a hit. His .324 batting average (11 for 34) in those games is within 14 points of both his regular-season and overall postseason averages. "I just try to keep it simple," Jeter said of his approach to big games. I don't really try to complicate things too much. We're still playing baseball. It's the same game whether it's the first game of the season or the postseason. You've got to try to have fun with it.