Baseball for Beginners: How Innings, Outs, and Runs Work

What are the two teams trying to do?

One team bats while the other fields. A run scores when a runner advances through first, second, and third and reaches home plate. The pitcher delivers to the batter, with the catcher and other fielders trying to record outs. The player at home plate is batting for the offensive team.

What is an inning, and why do three outs switch the teams?

An inning has two halves, so each team gets a turn to bat. The visiting team bats in the top half and the home team bats in the bottom half.

The fielding team needs three outs. After the third, the half-inning ends and the teams switch. The new batting team starts with zero outs, but runs already scored stay on the scoreboard.

Say the visiting team is batting in the top of the second inning with two outs. The next batter hits a ground ball, and the defense throws to first in time. That's out number three. The game moves to the bottom of the second, and the home team bats.

An MLB game is scheduled for nine innings. If the home team leads after the top of the ninth, it doesn't bat again. A tie goes to extra innings.

Youth leagues use other formats, and some games have time limits.

Look for the inning number and the word Top or Bottom, sometimes shown as an up or down arrow. “Top 4th” means the visiting team is batting in the fourth inning. “Bottom 4th” means it's the home team's turn.

What do balls, strikes, walks, and strikeouts mean?

Every pitch can change the batter's count. The count lists balls first and strikes second. When a broadcaster says “the count is two and one,” the batter has two balls and one strike.

A pitch in the strike zone that the batter doesn't swing at is a strike. A swing and a miss is also a strike. A pitch outside the zone that the batter doesn't swing at is a ball.

A new batter starts at 0-0. Here is one possible sequence:

• Ball: The count is 1-0.
• Strike: The count is 1-1, one ball and one strike.
• Ball: The count becomes 2-1.
• Another ball: The count becomes 3-1.
• A called strike: The count becomes 3-2.

Four balls is a walk, and the batter takes first base. Three strikes is a strikeout. Each new batter starts again at 0-0, while the team's outs and runs carry on from their previous totals.

A foul ball counts as a strike until the batter has two strikes. At 0-2, another foul ball leaves the count at 0-2. For details on balls, strikes, and fielding outs, see balls, strikes, fouls, walks, and the third-strike exception.

Can a foul ball ever become strike three when the batter already has two strikes?

Yes. A legally caught foul tip can be strike three, and so can a foul bunt with two strikes. Both differ from an ordinary foul ball.

The MLB explanation of foul tips describes the catching requirement. An uncaught third strike has extra rules, so strike three doesn't always put the batter out on the spot.

How does a batter get on base, and what makes an out?

A batter can reach first base safely on a hit or get first on a walk. Fielders can get a batter or runner out with a caught fly ball, a groundout, a tag, or a force play.

Say a shortstop fields a ground ball and throws to first. If the first baseman catches the throw and touches first before the batter arrives, the batter is out. An outfielder who catches a fly ball before it lands also records an out. Both add one out.

A force play happens when a runner must advance because the runner behind him needs his base. With a runner on first and a ground ball in play, a fielder holding the ball can touch second ahead of that forced runner for an out. A runner who is no longer forced has to be tagged with the ball, or with the glove holding it, while off a base where he is safe. For base runners, force plays and tag-ups, see first, read the play: base, outs, ball and force.

A single play can produce more than one out. Runners already on base can advance or hold, depending on where the ball goes and what the defense does. For the pitcher, catcher, shortstop and every other position, read what each defensive baseball position does.

How does a hit become a run, and how can one play score four?

A hit puts the batter on base and can move other runners up. A team scores a run when a runner legally rounds all the bases and reaches home plate.

With runners on first, second and third, a home run that brings all four players home is a grand slam.

A parent on r/Homeplate shared how his wife explained a grand slam:

If a runner crosses home before the third out, does that run always count?

No. If the third out is a force out, or the batter is out before reaching first, the run doesn't count. Other third-out situations depend on the sequence of events and the rules.

How do you read the scoreboard while watching on TV?

A TV broadcast shows a small scoreboard graphic, often called a scorebug. It puts several kinds of information close together, so the labels matter as much as the numbers.

Consider this fictional broadcast display:

In this display, 2-1 is the batter's count and 1-0 is the score.

Some broadcasts show only two small circles for outs, which looks odd when three outs end a half-inning. A commenter in r/baseball explained why:

Some graphics reset as soon as the third out changes sides, and others show three indicators. Base colors, arrows, and abbreviations also vary by broadcaster.

Follow a half-inning one play at a time

Now put the pieces together in one example sequence. It starts in the top of the second inning, with the visiting team batting and the score tied 0-0. There are no outs, a runner is on second, and the batter has one ball and one strike.

The next pitch is outside the strike zone, and the batter doesn't swing. The count becomes 2-1, and the runner stays on second. No outs, no runs.

The batter then hits a single. The runner on second moves to third, and the batter reaches first. The next batter starts at 0-0.

That batter singles too. The runner from third scores, the runner from first moves to second, and the batter reaches first. The visiting team leads 1-0 with nobody out.

The table follows the visiting team's run total from the opening situation through each play. Read each row as the state of the bases, outs, and score after that event.

The second single brings home the runner who was on third. That changes the visitors' score from 0 to 1 without recording an out; runners finish on first and second. The score follows the runner, not simply the fact that a hit occurred.