Jeter passes Gehrig to trail only Mantle

Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig for second place in career hits at Yankee Stadium, singling in the first inning of a 6-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.

The hit off Gavin Floyd was Jeter’s 1,270th in the 85-year-old ballpark, scheduled to close Sunday. It came in Jeter’s 8,002nd major league at-bat, passing Gehrig for second on the Yankees’ career list behind Mickey Mantle (8,102).

White Sox third baseman Juan Uribe, playing on the edge of the infield grass, tried to backhand the sharp grounder, which went under his glove.

There were camera flashes with every pitch thrown to Jeter in recent days. Jeter acknowledged the long ovation by taking off his helmet and raising it to the sellout crowd.

Gehrig played with New York from 1923 – Yankee Stadium’s opening season – until 1939, when he retired because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He died of ALS two years later.

“I find Lou Gehrig to be an amazing person, someone that you look up to as a role model,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I think helping people is important to Derek, too. … He’s chasing a guy with outstanding character and is a guy with outstanding character.”

N.L. highlights

Phillies 8, Braves 7: Ryan Howard sparked Philadelphia back into first place in the East Division, hitting a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning for his fourth hit in a victory over host Atlanta. Brad Lidge escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and the Phillies moved a half-game in front of the New York Mets.

Nationals 1, Mets 0: Odalis Perez shut out New York into the eighth inning and scored the only run of the game and Washington handed New York its fourth loss in five games.

Cubs 5, Brewers 4: Ryan Dempster got his 16th win and Chicago handed CC Sabathia his first N.L. loss while sending visiting Milwaukee to its fifth straight defeat and spoiling interim manager Dale Sveum’s debut. The Brewers trail the Mets by one-half game in the wild-card race. Houston is three back and Florida and St. Louis trail by five games.

Dodgers 6, Pirates 2: Derek Lowe allowed five singles over seven effective innings to remain unbeaten in his career against the Pirates and Los Angeles beat host Pittsburgh. The Dodgers’ lead over second-place Arizona in the West remained 41/2 games.

A.L. highlights

Rays 2, Red Sox 1: Dioner Navarro singled with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning in St. Petersburg, Fla., enabling Tampa Bay to beat Boston and take a one-game lead over the Red Sox in the East Division race.

White Sox 6, Yankees 2: Gavin Floyd pitched seven innings and Paul Konerko had two hits and an RBI in his return from a knee injury as Central-leading Chicago beat New York at Yankee Stadium. Chicago moved 21/2 games ahead of second-place Minnesota.

Indians 12, Twins 9 (11): Victor Martinez hit a game-winning, three-run homer with one out in the 11th inning to lead Cleveland over visiting Minnesota. The Twins trail Boston by seven games in the wild-card race.

Clearing the bases

Impressed by his outings for Taiwan in the Olympics, the Cleveland Indians signed pitcher Chen-Chang Lee. … Indians pitcher Anthony Reyes is done for the year because of a tender right elbow. … Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein is nearing an agreement on a contract extension, team owner John Henry said. … Brewers reliever David Riske has been shut down with an ailing right elbow. He is scheduled for surgery Tuesday to have a bone spur removed.