Umpire Jeff Nelson admitted after Sunday’s game that he botched the call at second base that aided the Tigers in a two-run eighth inning against the Yankees.
Omar Infante was attempting to return to the bag after rounding second on a single, but he was clearly tagged out by Robinson Cano on the play. Nelson called him safe.
“The hand did not get in before the tag, the call was incorrect,” he said. “I had the tag late and the hand going into the bag before the tag on the chest.”
It should have been the third out of the inning, but the Tigers went on to score two runs afterwards.
“Yeah, he was out by I would say five feet,” Cano said. “It is tough, because if it was the right call, it would be 1-0 instead of 3-0.”
Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was ejected after arguing the call during a pitching change, dedicated a significant portion of his postgame press conference to stumping for replay.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with Jeff’s effort, I don’t, because he hustled to get to the play. But in this day and age when we have instant replay available to us, it’s got to change. These guys are under tremendous amounts of pressure.
“It is a tough call for him, because the tag is underneath and it’s hard for him to see. And it takes more time to argue and get upset than you get the call right. Too much is at stake. We play 235 days to get to this point, and two calls go against us. We lose it by one run last night.”
Girardi was referring to another poor call on a ball that Robinson Cano beat out in the Game 1 loss. Whether it would have made a difference or not, it definitely stings with the Yankees down two games to none as they head to Detroit for Tuesday’s Game 3.