Bill Miller says no swing, Richie Palacios burns Guardians

Cleveland came into the night facing elimination, down 3-2 in the series at Tropicana Field. They were 1 strike from getting out of the 2nd inning clean.

Foul Territory

@FoulTerritoryTV

This two-strike, two-out check swing by Richie Palacios was not ruled a swing. Thoughts? 🤔

That's the pitch everyone is fighting about. Palacios offered, held up, and the appeal went to Bill Miller, who said no swing. A strike call there ends the inning with nothing on the board. Instead the at-bat kept going, and Palacios made Cleveland pay for it right away.

Barstool Baseball

@StoolBaseball

RICHIE PALACIOS GETS THE TROP CRANKING

The hit brought home Victor Mesa Jr. and Chandler Simpson from 2nd and 3rd, and it was 2-0 Rays before the Guardians could catch their breath. With a pennant this close, the Trop got as loud as the Trop gets, and Palacios was screaming his way down the line.

Jomboy Media

@JomboyMedia

Richie Palacios drove in the go-ahead runs after umpire Bill Miller ruled no swing t.co/B8nsnP84Qu

That's how it played on baseball Twitter: 1 call, 2 runs. Check swings are about as subjective as calls get. Did the barrel cross the plate, did the wrists roll over? It's a judgment call made in real time, and in an elimination game it gets frozen, slowed down and put on trial by millions of people at once. The replies under every clip of this one were full of fans swearing Palacios went around, and Guardians fans were not exactly holding back on Miller.

The stakes are what make it hurt. Tampa Bay won 2 of 3 in Cleveland to take the 3-2 series lead and came home with Freddy Peralta on the mound, needing 1 win for the World Series. Cleveland went with a bullpen game started by opener Shawn Armstrong because Gavin Williams couldn't go on short rest. When you're piecing an elimination game together reliever by reliever, giving the other team a 4th out is the last thing you can afford.

It was still early, and a 2-run hole in the 2nd isn't a death sentence. If the Guardians come back and force a Game 7 Tuesday, nobody will remember this. If they don't, Bill Miller's name is going to come up in Cleveland all winter.