Every call is critical in the three-game series between the Guardians and Tigers that's helping decide the wild AL Central race. First base umpire Chris Guccione may have taken that a bit too seriously as he waited entirely too long to make his call on a close play at first Thursday night.
In the bottom of the fourth inning with a runner on second, Guardians second baseman Brayan Rocchio hit a dribbler to second base, which Gleyber Torres fielded with his bare hand and flipped to first. It was a bang-bang play, but Guccione took some time making his call, which caused C.J. Kayfus to dash for home. Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson was unsure what to do, but threw home after a moment of reflection to try and get Kayfus.
Home plate umpire Brennan Miller didn't make a call either, mainly because he wanted to know what was going on at first. Guccione eventually called Rocchio out, which ended the inning in an incredibly strange sequence.
First base ump said nah I'm good on making a call pic.twitter.com/8Gt1MmZOAA
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 25, 2025
On the replay, Rocchio was clearly out and Guccione made the right call. Better late than never, I guess.
The Guardians took the first two games of the series in Cleveland to claim the AL Central lead in miraculous fashion. They trailed the Tigers by 15 1/2 games on July 8 and 10 1/2 games at the start of September. Cleveland has won 17 of their past 19 games while Detroit has dropped eight in a row and 11 of their last 12. The Tigers were able to jump out to an early lead Thursday in what's continuing to be an incredible race in the division.
Although a strange play, at least the odd moment didn't cause any controversy.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLB Ump Completely Freezes on Close Play at First Between Tigers and Guardians.
