What happens if a baseball game is tied?
Extra Innings in Professional Baseball
In MLB, if the score is tied after 9 innings, the game continues into extra innings. The teams play additional full innings until one team is ahead at the end of an inning. Since 2020, MLB has used a rule where each extra inning begins with a runner on second base to speed up the game.
If the home team takes the lead in the bottom of an extra inning, the game ends immediately. Games can go many innings; the record is 26 innings, played in 1920. Ties are not allowed in MLB except in special circumstances like weather-shortened games that are not official.
Ties in Other Levels of Baseball
In college baseball, ties are generally not allowed in conference games, but some non-conference games may end in a tie if travel or weather is a factor. In youth and recreational leagues, games often have a fixed time limit or inning limit, and a tie can be the final result.
In international play, such as the World Baseball Classic, tiebreaker rules may include extra innings with runners on base or a home run derby. Always check the specific league rules for tie procedures.
- MLB: extra innings until a winner; runner on second to start each extra inning.
- College: ties possible in some non-conference games.
- Youth: ties common due to time limits.
- International: may use tiebreakers like runners on base or home run derby.
Common mistakes
- Assuming all baseball games must have a winner; many youth and recreational leagues allow ties.
- Thinking extra innings always start with a runner on second; that rule is specific to MLB and some other leagues, not all.
- Believing a tied game is automatically suspended and resumed later; in MLB, it continues immediately unless weather stops play.
