Derek Jeter Injury

NEW YORK -- Delirious only minutes earlier, fans at Yankee Stadium sat stunned in utter disbelief while they watched Derek Jeter being helped off the field. Their worst fears were met, too. The durable captain broke his left ankle and is out for the rest of the postseason.Three innings after Raul Ibanez sent the 47,122 in Yankee Stadium into a frenzy with a tying two-run homer, the New York shortstop silenced the crowd when he went down and didn't get up after making a tumbling stop on Jhonny Peralta's grounder in the 12th inning.That feel-good moment was gone in a flash. Jeter injured the leg while diving for Jhonny Peralta’s ground ball up the middle. Jeter grimaced in pain immediately and flipped the ball toward second baseman Robinson Cano in a failed attempt to record the out.Jeter was unable to put weight on his left leg afterward and was helped off the field by Yankees head athletic trainer Steve Donohue and Girardi.In an odd twist, the Yankees wouldn’t have been playing in that inning if not for the latest game-tying home run by October star Raul Ibañez three innings earlier.I can't tell you how much I appreciate his toughness and his grit," Girardi said. "It's, to me, a great example for everyone. And I am not just talking about athletes, I am just talking about everyone that goes through struggles in life or goes through pain in life." Already missing career saves leader Mariano Rivera, also a five-time champion, since early May because he tore a ligament in his knee shagging flyballs, the Yankees will activate Eduardo Nunez before Game 2 of the series on Sunday. Jayson Nix is expected to start at shortstopIt's a tough loss, but it's not going to be something that we're going to, you know, let it derail us," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "But it's tough to lose, obviously, any important player. Derek's obviously been as important as anybody. But now he's been taken out, so Nix has got to go in there, and we've got a lot of confidence in Nix.Jeter was the designated hitter in Game 4 of the AL division series after fouling a ball off the same foot the previous night and had to come out after the eighth inning. It was the first time he didn't start a playoff game at shortstop, as Nix got the nod in his place. I saw him flip the ball to Robbie (Cano), and you figure he's going to get back up," Swisher said. "When he didn't was when I knew something was wrong. You know he wanted to get up and get off the field as quickly as he possibly could." Written off as an aging star after slumping in 2010, Jeter struggled to adapt to a no-stride swing in '11 before going on the disabled list for only the fifth time in his 17 full seasons in the big leagues with a calf injury. He returned revitalized, getting his 3,000th hit and finishing strong. Jeter surged this year, posting a remarkable season for a 38-year-old player as he batted .316 with a AL-leading 216 hits. He carried that over to the postseason, hitting .364 against the Orioles.