Help me understand the scoring of this inning

Zoidberg

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SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2005
167
Decapod 10
My apologies if this isn't the right place to post this.  I've started using scoring software for my son's AAU baseball team, and after reviewing the stats, I had question as to which pitcher was responsible for which runs that scored in an inning that happened this past opening weekend, and how many of those runs were earned.  I have no stake in any of this; it's only for the betterment of my understanding that I ask the question.
 
The play of the inning is as follows. 
 
Pitcher A started the inning, and had the following sequence of events:
 
1) First hitter walks.
2) Second hitter sacrifice bunts - first hitter advanced to second on sac bunt. (1 Out)
3) Third hitter singles, first hitter from second scores (1st run of inning).
4) Third hitter steals second.
5) Fourth hitter hits a routine ground ball to short, which is booted, resulting in the third hitter advancing to third base, and the fourth hitter reaching first base.
6) Fifth hitter walks, loading the bases with one out and one run in.
 
Pitcher B replaces pitcher A, and has the following sequence of events:
 
1) Sixth hitter walks, bringing in third hitter to score (2nd run of inning).
2) Seventh hitter is hit by pitch, bringing in the fourth hitter who had reached via error (3rd run of inning).
3) Eighth hitter grounds the ball to second, and the force of the fifth hitter at home gets an out. (2 Outs)
4) Ninth hitter is hit by pitch, bringing in the fifth sixth hitter. (4th run of inning)
5) Tenth hitter walks, bringing in the sixth seventh hitter (5th run of inning)
6) Eleventh hitter walks, bringing in the seventh eighth hitter (6th run of inning)
7) Twelfth hitter lines out to 3rd base, ending the inning (finally!)
 
 
My (albeit, incredibly shaky) understanding after reading rule 10.16 "Earned Runs and Runs Allowed", is that pitcher A is responsible for the run that scored while he's on the mound, plus 3 runs due to leaving the bases loaded.  These would be the runs scored by hitters 1, 3, 4, and 5 above.  It doesn't matter that one of "his runners" were out at the plate on the fielder's choice, he owns 3 runners, not a specific 3 people.  Since Pitcher A wouldn't own them, Pitcher B would therefore be responsible for the remaining 2 runs of the inning. 
 
Of those 4 runs I thought would be charged to pitcher A, I would think 2 would be earned, while two would be unearned.  This is due to hitter 4 reaching on an error, so the run he scores should be unearned, and then since the inning "should" have been over after hitter 8 grounds into the fielder's choice, any runs scoring after shouldn't be earned.  I don't know whether any runs after the fourth run of the inning should be earned, since again, the inning "should" have been over if the error were not committed.
 
Meanwhile, the scoring software I was using (Gamechanger, in case anyone's interested) tells me that pitcher A was responsible for all 6 runs, and 5 of them are earned.  I'm certainly willing to admit I don't know for sure what's right, but that seems wrong to me.
 
Can someone smarter than I am give me the right answer?
 

TheYaz67

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SoSH Member
May 21, 2004
4,712
Justia Omnibus
Gah - sorry you had to live through that inning, and that is kind of complicated.  A bit confused as you have the fifth hitter appearing twice:
 
 
3) Eighth hitter grounds the ball to second, and the force of the fifth hitter at home gets an out. (2 Outs)
4) Ninth hitter is hit by pitch, bringing in the fifth hitter. (4th run of inning)
 
The 5th batter can not be both out, then score a run.
 
I think it is like this:
 
Pitcher A allowed 2 earned runs, and one unearned (the guy who reached on the error).  The last batter of his (hitter 5) is out at the plate, so that is the end of his responsibility for runners/runs scored.
 
Pitcher B allowed 3 runs, all unearned, because when the 8th hitter bounced into a fielder choice, that should have been the 3rd out of the inning, so all additional runs are unearned.  I know that is how it would be scored if it was the same pitcher, but now I am unsure if the new pitcher "resets" - very well could be that all three of those are earned on pitcher B - he may not get the "benefit" of the previous error giving away an out to pitcher A....
 
Someone else needs to take a crack at this - I am very rusty on my scorekeeping!
 

Frisbetarian

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Dec 3, 2003
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Off the beaten track
ganador2004 said:
My apologies if this isn't the right place to post this.  I've started using scoring software for my son's AAU baseball team, and after reviewing the stats, I had question as to which pitcher was responsible for which runs that scored in an inning that happened this past opening weekend, and how many of those runs were earned.  I have no stake in any of this; it's only for the betterment of my understanding that I ask the question.
 
The play of the inning is as follows. 
 
Pitcher A started the inning, and had the following sequence of events:
 
1) First hitter walks.
2) Second hitter sacrifice bunts - first hitter advanced to second on sac bunt. (1 Out)
3) Third hitter singles, first hitter from second scores (1st run of inning).
4) Third hitter steals second.
5) Fourth hitter hits a routine ground ball to short, which is booted, resulting in the third hitter advancing to third base, and the fourth hitter reaching first base.
6) Fifth hitter walks, loading the bases with one out and one run in.
 
Pitcher B replaces pitcher A, and has the following sequence of events:
 
1) Sixth hitter walks, bringing in third hitter to score (2nd run of inning).
2) Seventh hitter is hit by pitch, bringing in the fourth hitter who had reached via error (3rd run of inning).
3) Eighth hitter grounds the ball to second, and the force of the fifth hitter at home gets an out. (2 Outs)
4) Ninth hitter is hit by pitch, bringing in the fifth hitter. (4th run of inning)
5) Tenth hitter walks, bringing in the sixth hitter (5th run of inning)
6) Eleventh hitter walks, bringing in the seventh hitter (6th run of inning)
7) Twelfth hitter lines out to 3rd base, ending the inning (finally!)
 
 
My (albeit, incredibly shaky) understanding after reading rule 10.16 "Earned Runs and Runs Allowed", is that pitcher A is responsible for the run that scored while he's on the mound, plus 3 runs due to leaving the bases loaded.  These would be the runs scored by hitters 1, 3, 4, and 5 above.  It doesn't matter that one of "his runners" were out at the plate on the fielder's choice, he owns 3 runners, not a specific 3 people.  Since Pitcher A wouldn't own them, Pitcher B would therefore be responsible for the remaining 2 runs of the inning. 
 
Of those 4 runs I thought would be charged to pitcher A, I would think 2 would be earned, while two would be unearned.  This is due to hitter 4 reaching on an error, so the run he scores should be unearned, and then since the inning "should" have been over after hitter 8 grounds into the fielder's choice, any runs scoring after shouldn't be earned.  I don't know whether any runs after the fourth run of the inning should be earned, since again, the inning "should" have been over if the error were not committed.
 
Meanwhile, the scoring software I was using (Gamechanger, in case anyone's interested) tells me that pitcher A was responsible for all 6 runs, and 5 of them are earned.  I'm certainly willing to admit I don't know for sure what's right, but that seems wrong to me.
 
Can someone smarter than I am give me the right answer?
 
 
 
 
The bold is correct. Pitcher A allowed 4 baserunners, 1 reaching on an error, so he cannot possibly allow more than 4 runs in the inning. The inning should have ended when the 8th hitter grounded to 2nd, so Pitcher A allowed 4 runs, but only 2 earned runs. Pitcher B is also charged with 2 earned runs, allowing 3 walks and 2 HBP in his 2/3 of an inning. 
 

Hendu for Kutch

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Apr 7, 2006
6,920
Nashua, NH
I know it's counter-intuitive, but....
 
All runs charged to the 2nd pitcher are earned runs.  The only error occurred before he entered the game.  So, for his statistical purposes, all that matters is the situation he finds himself in when entering the game.  How the team got in that situation is irrelevant to his stats.
 
However, every run scored after the 2nd out (which should have been the 3rd out) along with the runner who reached via error are unearned team runs.  Because in the overall flow of the game, they shouldn't have happened.  So you'll have more unearned team runs than unearned individual runs.
 
A bit confusing, I know.
 

Zoidberg

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2005
167
Decapod 10
Thanks, Yaz, Fris, and Hendu.  I "thought" that it was 4 runs (2 earned) for pitcher A, but didn't know for sure if Pitcher B's runs were earned or not. 
 
First time pitching at 60 feet for either of the pitchers, so I hope they don't feel too bad about the one bad inning when the rest of the game there were only a couple hits and 2 runs.  I'll go manually edit stats at some point to reflect who is actually responsible for what.
 
Appreciate the insight.
 

Rice4HOF

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Jan 21, 2002
1,887
Calgary, Canada
Hendu is totally correct.  If there are 2 outs in an inning, and the 3rd batter reaches on an error, the pitcher can give up 5 more home runs and none of those runs are earned.  But if a new pitcher comes in, and he gives up the 5 home runs, those are all earned to him.  
 
There's some good (IMO - it's my site) reference material here http://baseballscoring.wordpress.com/site-index/