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The New York Yankees lost again on Thursday night, but captain Derek Jeter doubled for his 2,998th career hit in the first inning to take the sting out of a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays that dropped the Bronx Bombers into second place in the American League East. After going 14-4 while Jeter was on the disabled list, the Yankees are just 1-3 with their aging shortstop back in the lineup.

Jeter ended the game 1-for-5 as he and the rest of the Yankees had all sorts of trouble with Devil Rays starter Jeff Niemann, who sprinkled six hits and two walks over 7.1 innings and didn’t give up a run until the bottom of the sixth with the Devil Rays up 5-0. Jeter has three more games against the Devil Rays before the All-Star Break as he tries to become the first Yankee and 28th major leaguer to reach the 3,000 hit plateau.

Devil Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist led off the game with a triple that led to the Devil Rays first run, and later homered. Tampa outfielder BJ Upton also had a two-run home run as the Devil Rays scored all five of their runs against Yankees starter Bartolo Colon. The Devil Rays are now 3.5 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox, and just three games behind the Yankees for the AL Wild Card.

Asked about the Yankees losing, Jeter offered excuses: “We have faced some tough pitching the last few days.”