# Baseball scoring question **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [August 12, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307 "2026-08-12T02:56:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/21 "2026-08-13T14:51:32Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Does the pitcher on the mound take the loss, despite not even having a pitch in the game? The error is on the part of the 3rd baseman, and nothing the pitcher did had anything to do with the run. I’m guessing he would, but that seems so messed up. He does. He’s still the pitcher of record when the inning starts, and his team gave up the lead during his time as pitcher. It’s not much different from a hypothetical in which the lead batter reaches first on a dropped third strike (i.e., error by the catcher), and then keeps advancing all the way around due to fielding errors. (Yes, it’s weird.) ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/22 "2026-08-13T16:33:55Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Automatic runner is on second base. New pitcher. Before he even pitches once, the runner tries to steal 3rd for some reason. I’m not familiar with the rules of the Automatic Runner (or for that matter a lot of the rules in General), but how/under what circumstances does the Automatic Runner steal a base? Can it (he?) steal Home? Thanks, Brian ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/23 "2026-08-13T16:35:04Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Can it (he?) steal Home? It’s just a person put on base, no different than if they’d hit a double. They can do anything that any runner could do on second base. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/24 "2026-08-13T16:37:08Z")
Oh, so the Automatic Runner is a real person, not some theoretical construct (I told you I didn’t know much) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/25 "2026-08-13T16:46:37Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Oh, so the Automatic Runner is a real person, not some theoretical construct (I told you I didn’t know much) Yeah, basically every inning starting with the 10th, the offense automatically has someone standing on second base to start the inning. It’s an attempt to keep games from going too long into extra innings. This is made confusing by the term “ghost runner”, which as many in this thread have pointed out is a preexisting term that does not apply to what MLB is doing. When I’ve played baseball with a ghost runner, it’s an imaginary runner who doesn’t actually exist, and only “advances” when a real person advances, and can’t be “out” since it’s not a real person that can be tagged out. For example, you might put a ghost runner on first, and if a real batter gets walked and goes to 1st base, that ghost runner is on 2nd. If that runner then goes to 2nd base (say they steal) then the ghost runner is on 3rd, and if the runner gets to 3rd then the ghost runner scores. In my experience, this is used as a form of handicap to make things easier for a team, but I’m sure it exists in different forms in different situations. What it isn’t is a _real person_, otherwise the “ghost” part is meaningless. I like the term “automatic runner” that people are using in this thread, because it’s more descriptive and accurate, because the runner is automatically placed in extra innings by the rules. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/26 "2026-08-13T18:48:37Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > And if it was done on 2 sac flys, the reliever: > > 1. Doesn’t take an increase in ERA Wouldn’t they actually have a _decrease_ in ERA? Two outs recorded, no earned runs scored? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/27 "2026-08-13T22:50:56Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Wouldn’t they actually have a _decrease_ in ERA? Two outs recorded, no earned runs scored? Yep. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307/28 "2026-08-14T00:43:29Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I like the term “automatic runner” that people are using in this thread, because it’s more descriptive and accurate, because the runner is automatically placed in extra innings by the rules. It is also, it must be noted, the term MLB uses on its website, though in the rulebook it’s just “the runner who starts the inning at second base.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-scoring-question/1032307.md?page=1)