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A pitcher comes into a game with runners on first and second. There are two outs. The pitcher throws two balls and then the coach intentionally walks the batter and the bases are loaded.The next batter is walked and a run comes in. The next batter hits a ground ball to third that results in an error by the third baseman. Runners advance and another run comes home. The pitcher is removed from the game. Which of these runs counts as earned? Also, is there any credit for innings pitched since no outs occurred when this pitcher was in? The next pitcher came in and threw one pitch and the batter popped out.

Last edited by LouWho
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Thanks. I had determined that the run caused by the 3b error was not earned but I wasn't sure about the other. Is the reason the first one was not earned because the pitcher that left the game put the runner on base to begin with? And do I understand correctly that in order to get credit for an inning or any portion of an inning, a pitcher has to be involved in getting one or more outs?

Assuming neither runner on base got on by error or passed ball, both runs are charged to the 1st pitcher - one earned, one unearned. No inning or partial inning credited to 2nd pitcher. He is only charged with 2 walks.

If either inherited runner got on by error or passed ball, the difference would be both runs were unearned.

Hope that helps.
Any time a pitcher leaves a game with runners on base, those runners are his responsibility. If the next guy comes in and allows them to score, they always get charged to the pitcher who allowed them to reach base. Whether they become earned or unearned runs depends on the game situation and whether any errors or passed balls occurred. And if a pitcher does not record an out, he is not credited with any innings pitched. If he records one out, he is credited with 1/3 of an inning pitched and so on. Hope that clarifies things some for you.

Welcome Lou. Being new to the site you probably didn’t realize this question would be more appropriately placed in the Statistics & Scorekeeping forum. The good news is, those of us who enjoy such questions don’t really care.

 

The best advice you can be given right now is to go to http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/officia...s/official_rules.jsp and download the rules. Yes, they are the rules for the ML, but for questions like yours they’ll give you the best answer. The exact rule you want is 10.16.

 

RedFishFool gave you the best answer because there wasn’t enough information to give an answer that would work in all cases. Trying to determine earn/unearned runs, you have to know the entire situation as to how each runner reached each base. Not only that, I’ve had 3 occasions this season already where a foul ball was dropped and the batter later reached on a hit or walk then scored. That’s not an earned run either.

 

For IPs, look at rule 10.02(c)(1) Comment.

 

For which pitcher is charged when changing pitchers in the middle of an at bat, look at rule 10.16(h).

 

Good luck!

Depends on the "official scorer's" decisions and knowledge of the game.... That thing you called an error by the 3B-man could be called a single.... Pitchers parents know what I'm talking about!  Read some of the detailed game logs "infield single to ..." is more common than "error by ...".  Many teams post their "offensive" stats prevalently on their "schedule" page - team batting avg .350 (for a team that's .500 - think about it for a while)...

 

To answer the basic question though - with two outs, the first two runners are the responsibility of the 1st pitcher.  The walk to the 3rd/4th batter could mean the first run is earned (unless there were errors to get first two runners on). On that error occurs then theoretically the runners put on by the 2nd pitcher won't be earned. I think beyond that - if that runner that got on by error scores, then runs after that might be earned - that's where it gets fuzzy to me. Interestingly enough - passed balls are errors that can result in unearned runs, but wild pitches are not errors. So if the "official scorer" doesn't know how to judge the difference that affects the ERA.

 

Moral of the story - don't worry about the ERA (this is after me agonizing for the first two years over it).

Originally Posted by RedFishFool:

Pitcher 1 get first two outs and then the next batter gets on by error.

 

Pitcher 2 comes in and give up 2 run HR.

 

I know that Pitcher 1 does not have an earned run (and had he been pitching and given up HR, neither run would be earned)

 

Is the HR by Pitcher 2 treated as an earned run to Pitcher 2?

Yes. One earned run. The second pitcher doesn't get the benefit of the fact that the inning should have been over. If, however, say another runner got on by error and then pitcher #2 gave up a three-run shot, there would be no earned runs.

Originally Posted by RedFishFool:

Nope...don't have time when there are too many knowledgeable people on here willing to quickly and succinctly share their info!

 

It’s been 18 hours since you made your 1st post. Since there’s a section in the rule book index called “earned runs” that would have told you everything you wanted in less than 10 minutes, I’m guessing you’re being penny wise and pound foolish. But that’s ok. Ignorance of the rules is nothing new to baseball.

 

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