NOTES

After batting .444 in the American League division series against Oakland, Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, who entered October with a .324 average and 21 RBIs in 61 postseason games, has three hits in 28 at-bats through Game 3 of the World Series.

Manager Joe Torre said Jeter is still not 100% after tumbling into the seats down the third-base line to catch a foul pop in Game 5 of the division series, but he refused to use that as an excuse.

“You manage to do things in the postseason when you are not 100%; look at what Kirk Gibson did [in the 1988 World Series] and he could not walk,” Torre said. “There’s a lot of emotion that goes on here. Just because he’s two for 24 does not mean the reason he’s two for 24 is he’s hurt. The reason he’s 2 for 24 is [Arizona pitchers] Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson.”

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The No. 3 spot in the batting order is usually reserved for the best hitter on the team, a lineup mainstay who starts no matter who is pitching, but it hasn’t exactly been sacred ground for the Yankees lately.

The New York lineup Tuesday featured the third No. 3 hitter in three games: David Justice started Game 1 and struck out three times, Jeter started Game 2 and did not get a hit, and Paul O’Neill, who didn’t start the first two games, went two for four in the third spot in Game 3.

Torre also went with right-handed hitting Shane Spencer instead of Justice, starting Spencer in left field and using the designated hitter spot for regular left fielder and leadoff batter Chuck Knoblauch.

Arizona Manager Bob Brenly made one significant lineup switch, moving shortstop Tony Womack, who was hitless in eight at-bats the first two games, from leadoff to ninth. Craig Counsell hit first and Steve Finley second.

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Yankee backup catcher Todd Greene, a former Angel, has not been a factor in the postseason--he has only one at-bat in a lopsided loss--but he had an experience he’ll never forget Tuesday night. Greene caught the ceremonial first pitch from President Bush. ... The tattered and torn flag recovered from the World Trade Center flew over Yankee Stadium above the center-field fence Tuesday night. Found with 12 stars missing and covered in ash, the flag is believed to have come from one of the upper floors of the Twin Towers. It was given to American Legion Post 422 in New Providence, N.J., by an anonymous donor and then presented to the New York City Port Authority Police. ... Among those joining President Bush and his wife in the owner’s box Tuesday night were Billy Crystal, Donald Trump, Regis Philbin and Steve Forbes.