When Is a Baseball Game Official?

According to Major League Baseball rules, a game is official after five innings if the home team is ahead, or four-and-a-half innings if the visitors are ahead. If the game is tied after five innings, it becomes an official game when the teams complete six innings.

Introduction

A baseball game is not official until it has gone at least five innings, or four and a half innings if the home team is ahead. This is known as the “5-inning rule” or the “4 1/2-inning rule.” If a game is called because of bad weather or other reasons before it becomes official, it is considered a “suspended game” and can be resumed from the point at which it was called.

What Constitutes an Official Game?

According to Major League Baseball rules, a game is considered official after 5 innings have been completed, or 4½ innings if the home team is ahead. If the game is called due to inclement weather, it is official if at least 4 innings have been completed (3½ if the home team is ahead). There are some other exceptions, but those are the general rules.

Fourteen innings or more

In baseball, a game is considered official after five innings if the home team is ahead, or if the game is tied. If the game is postponed before it becomes official, it is not considered a completed game. If the game is tied after five innings and then postponed, it will be considered a completed game and will be replayed from the beginning. If a game goes to extra innings, it is considered official when the visiting team has scored more runs than the home team after seven innings, or when the home team has scored more runs than the visiting team after eight innings.

Twelve innings or more, with the home team ahead

An official game is one that has gone twelve innings or more, with the home team ahead. If the game is called off before it has reached that point, it is considered unofficial. If the game is tied after twelve innings, it is also considered unofficial.

The reason why a game must go at least twelve innings to be considered official is because that is typically how long it takes for both teams to have an equal number of turns batting and fielding. In other words, both teams have had an equal opportunity to score runs.

If a game is called off before it has reached twelve innings, it is considered unofficial for a couple of reasons. First, as previously mentioned, both teams have not had an equal opportunity to score runs. Second, games that are called off before they reach their natural conclusion can often be resumed at a later date. For example, if a game is rained out in the bottom of the ninth inning, it can typically be made up at a later date from the point where it was postponed.

The home team must have had more innings at bat than the visiting team

Nine innings must be completed, or the home team must have had more innings at bat than the visiting team, in order for a game to be considered official. If a game is called due to rain, darkness, etc., and less than five innings have been completed, it is considered a “no contest” and is not included in statistics.

What Happens if the Game is Called Early?

A baseball game becomes official after 5 innings if the home team is ahead, or 4 innings if the away team is ahead. If the game is tied after 5 innings, it will continue until one team is ahead after extra innings have been played. If the game is called early due to weather or other reasons, it may be considered a suspended game.

If the game is called before it is official, it is a no decision

If a game is called before it is official, it is a no decision. This means that the pitcher’s statistics (including earned runs) are not counted and neither team is credited with a win or loss. If the game is called while it is official (usually due to weather), the score at the time of the call is used to determine the winner and loser.

If the game is called while it is official, the score at the time is the final score

In baseball, if the game is called while it is official, the score at the time is the final score. If the game is called while it is unofficial, the score reverts back to what it was at the last official inning, and any runs scored in subsequent innings are disregarded.

Conclusion

In general, a baseball game is considered official after 5 innings have been completed. However, there are some circumstances where the game may be considered official before 5 innings have been completed, such as if the home team is ahead by 10 or more runs after 4 innings. If a game is called because of weather or other factors, it is considered official if 4 innings have been completed (if the home team is ahead) or 5 innings have been completed (if the away team is ahead).