Inning (baseball)
Inning is a baseball term used to describe the stage of play in a baseball or softball game . In an inning, each of the two teams is once batting and once field team. In the first half ( top , upper half ) of each inning, the away team is the batting team, in the second half ( bottom , lower half ) the home team. Games on neutral ground usually involve drawing lots.
A half-inning ends when three players the batting side "off" (out) are. Then the right to strike changes and the next half inning begins.
In baseball, a game is not limited in time, but usually consists of nine innings, with the game being over when the home team is in the lead after the top half of the last inning and their victory is determined. In a number of leagues, so-called mercy rules are used, which mean that the game will end immediately if the score is clear in favor of a team. Internationally, the 10-run rule is used, in which the game is ended if the lead is ten or more points at the end of an inning, but not earlier than two and a half innings before the regular end. This rule applies to Olympic Games and tournaments hosted by the IBAF . In the MLB there are no mercy rules applied. In other leagues there may be 15-run and 20-run rules, depending on the league's own rules.
In the first German baseball Bundesliga , the games are played as double headers , i.e. two games in a row. Up until 2007, only seven innings were played in the second game, and since 2008 the second game has also lasted nine innings. In the lower German leagues, all games are usually limited to five or seven, in American school and amateur sports to six or seven innings.
Extra inning
Since there is no tie in baseball, if there is a tie after the regular innings, as many extra innings are added until a winner is determined or the game is abandoned due to darkness or bad weather and has to be played to a later date.
In Japanese professional baseball draws are possible, depending on the league (Pacific- or Central League) games are completed at the latest by the 12th or the 15th inning. The Bundesliga baseball record is a 19-innings game (the game was scheduled for 7 innings) between the Saarlouis Hornets and the Fürth Pirates (2–1) in the 2004 season, which had to be extended twelve times.
Example
Each individual inning in baseball is shown in the display of the game result, here using the example of the encounter between the
Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees on Sunday, October 17, 2004 in Fenway Park in Boston Massachusetts . The game lasted 12 innings, since 9 innings are played in the MLB, 3 extra times were necessary:
| team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | R. | H | E. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4th | 12 | 1 |
| Boston Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6th | 8th | 0 |
WP : Curtis Leskanic (1-0) LP : Paul Quantrill (0-1)
HRs : NYY - Alex Rodríguez (2) BOS - David Ortiz (1)For a detailed explanation and explanation of the game principle, see baseball .