Royce Lewis rung up on back-to-back bad strike three calls

Home plate umpire Bill Miller scored well overall but two late-game at-bats featuring Royce Lewis were questionable.

Jun 25, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It might not have mattered in the end anyway, but Royce Lewis certainly has reason to be frustrated after being called out on a third strike in back-to-back at-bats late in Minnesota's 2-0 loss to the Mets Tuesday night.

In the seventh inning, Lewis was called out on a pitch from Sean Manaea that was clearly outside. Then in the ninth inning, Lewis was rung up on a called strike three from Edwin Diaz that was above the strike zone. You can see both pitches — pitch 4 in the Manaea at-bat and pitch 7 in the Diaz at-bat — in the graphic below.

Called third strikes on Royce Lewis / Baseball Savant

According to Umpire Scorecards, home plate umpire Bill Miller made the correct call on 121 of 126 pitches that were taken by batters during Tuesday night's game in New York. Overall, Miller's calls apparently favored the Twins by nearly a full run over the Mets.

Umpire: Bill Miller
Final: Twins 0, Mets 2#MNTwins // #LGM#MINvsNYM // #NYMvsMIN

More stats for this game 👇https://t.co/JUsjwfl7mZ pic.twitter.com/rbRHmg0yi5

— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) July 31, 2024

The Twins lost the game 2-0 and neither at-bat featuring Lewis had runners in scoring position, so it's impossible to say that Lewis getting rung up on lousy calls would've cost the Twins anything unless Lewis would've homered in each at-bat.