Nick Swisher showed he’s not just capable of looking bad at the plate in the playoffs, as his misplay in right field led to the winning run in the Yankees’ 6-4, 12-inning loss to the Tigers in Game 1 of the ALCS.
Seemingly in position to make a running catch on Delmon Young’s liner off David Phelps, Swisher suddenly made a lunging motion and missed the ball entirely, the result, he said, of losing the ball in the lights.
“I thought I had a great jump on it and it caught up right in those lights and I just went completely blind,” Swisher said. “It kind of handcuffed me, but I didn’t even see it last the last five or 10 feet.”
With Swisher tumbling in the outfield, Miguel Cabrera came around to score easily.
“It’s a helpless feeling because you want to make that play,’’ Swisher said. “I’ve made that play a bunch of times before, I just wasn’t able to make it tonight.”
Phelps, who took the loss, wouldn’t blame Swisher.
“It would have been a great play,” the right-hander said. “It’s not a play you expect him to make.”
Still, it wasn’t the only time Swisher was unable to come up with a Young fly ball, costing the Yankees a run in the loss.
In the sixth, Young sent a fly ball to shallow right and Swisher came in, but opted not to dive for it. The single scored Cabrera and gave Detroit a 2-0 lead.
“That was a tough call,” Swisher said of the play in which he got caught in-between. “If I dive and miss that ball, maybe there’s runners on second and third, but looking back, maybe it would have been a good idea.”
Not much has gone right for Swisher this time of year since he joined the Yankees.
Last night, he went 1-for-5 with a walk and a double and he’s now hitting .200 in the postseason.
“Collectively, we just couldn’t get it done,” Swisher said.