New York ? Derek Jeter can’t help but peek at the scoreboard when he heads to the plate and see his average plunging.

“You can’t help but see it,” Jeter said, “it’s so huge.”

Jeter, a .317 career hitter coming into this season, is in the worst drought of his career, 0-for-21 after going 0-for-5 against the Red Sox on Saturday. Even the ultra-cool captain, who is hitting .184, admitted he was pressing after the Yankees got only four hits and lost 3-2 in 12 innings.

Jeter had 0-for-18 slumps in 1997 and ’99, but both of those years he got off to torrid starts and the midseason droughts didn’t affect his average much. He hit .291 in 1997, .349 in 1999.

“You get to where you’re trying so hard to get a hit, you start swinging at pitches out of the strike zone,” Jeter said.