Looking for fastball, Nick Swisher crushes one for 3-0 win

Nick Swisher went hitless in his first three at-bats against Rangers lefty Matt Harrison and got to turn things around against hard-throwing Alexi Ogando with Derek Jeter on first and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night.

Swisher fell behind 0-and-2 before working the count full. Swisher then crushed a fastball over the right-centerfield wall for a two-run homer for the first runs of the game en route to a 3-0 win at Yankee Stadium.

"I was hitting on sound at that point," said Swisher, who hit his 200th career homer Monday night. "He's one of those guys that has an arsenal of pitches, but you have to try and do what you can to stay on that fastball. I was in that 3-2 count hoping he threw another fastball and I was just looking to get the barrel on it."

The key to the at-bat was the 2-and-2 pitch, a slider that Swisher took.

"I saw a little spin coming out and I had seen nothing but a white blur coming at me," Swisher said. "When I saw that spin, I felt it was going to be inside, so I kind of froze. It changed the entire at-bat around. You get to a 3-2 count right there and you don't want to walk me."

Swisher struggled in July, batting .222 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 63 at-bats. He hit his first home run since July 19 on Monday night.

Last Wednesday, Swisher was moved to the second spot in the order. He went 2-for-3 with two runs, one RBI and walked three times.

"He's been really good there for us," manager Joe Girardi said. "He's taking his walks. He's got big hits for us. That [home run] was a tremendous at-bat."

Swisher is 9-for-30 (.300) with two home runs, 10 RBIs, seven runs and four walks since he was moved to second in the order last week and has reached base in six of seven games. The Yankees are 6-1 since the switch.

"My style of batting, you hit in a lot of different spots," Swisher said. "I just try to go out there and put a quality at-bat together."