The Extra-Innings Runner on Second: Why the Rule Exists and How It Changes Strategy
How the automatic runner on second base works in regular-season extra innings, why MLB introduced it in 2020, and how it changes bunting, intentional walks, bullpen use and the length of tie games.
When a regular-season major-league game is tied after nine innings, each team now begins its half of the tenth inning with a runner already standing on second base. Nobody put him there with a hit, a walk or a stolen base. The rulebook places him there, and he stays until he scores, is retired or the inning ends. Fans call him the ghost runner, the automatic runner or, after the commissioner who championed the idea, the Manfred runner.
The rule was introduced as an emergency measure for the 2020 season, when a pandemic compressed the schedule to 60 games and put a premium on keeping pitchers healthy. It stayed in use in the seasons that followed and remained in force through the 2025 season. It divides fans more than almost any other modern rule change: supporters say it ends games quickly and spares bullpens, while critics say it replaces a real baseball situation with a manufactured one.
This article explains exactly how the rule works, what extra-inning games looked like before it, how the placed runner changes decisions about bunting, intentional walks and relief pitching, and what the rule does and does not do to the length of games. Where details matter, check the current Official Baseball Rules at MLB.com, because rule wording is revised from time to time.
How the rule works
At the start of every extra inning, the player who is in the batting order immediately ahead of that inning's leadoff hitter is placed on second base. The leadoff hitter is simply whoever is due to bat next. So if the ninth inning ends with the number three hitter making the final out, the number four hitter leads off the tenth, and the number three hitter begins the inning on second base. If the ninth ends with the number nine hitter making an out, the number one hitter leads off and the number nine hitter starts on second.
The placed runner is a real runner for every purpose of play. He can steal third, advance on a ground ball to the right side, tag up on a fly ball or score on a single. He can be put out on the bases, and if he is, the out counts like any other. Both teams get the same treatment: the visiting team starts the top of the tenth with its runner on second, and the home team starts the bottom of the tenth with its own.
Three consequences follow directly from the placement:
- First base is open. The runner on second is not forced to move, and the defense can walk the next hitter to set up a force play at every base.
- The inning starts with a scoring chance. A runner on second with no outs is, by ordinary baseball logic, a position in which the offense is expected to score more often than not.
- A one-run lead is fragile. If the visiting team scores one run in the top of the inning, the home team still gets its own runner on second and three outs to tie.
The game continues inning after inning in the same way until one team leads after a complete inning, or the home team takes the lead in the bottom half, which ends the game on the spot.
What the rule replaced
For most of baseball's history there was no special mechanism for extra innings. The teams simply kept playing until one led at the end of an inning, unless the game was stopped, which happened when darkness arrived or a curfew applied. Games were sometimes called as ties or suspended and finished on a later date.
That produced some of the longest games on record. The longest game in major-league history by innings was a 26-inning contest between Brooklyn and Boston in 1920, which ended in a 1-1 tie when it was called for darkness. The longest game by time in the major leagues was a 25-inning White Sox win over the Milwaukee Brewers in 1984, which was suspended and finished the next day and totaled eight hours and six minutes of playing time. In the minor leagues, a game between Pawtucket and Rochester in 1981 lasted 33 innings, with play suspended after the 32nd on April 19 and finished on June 23. These marathons are part of baseball lore, and also exactly what the new rule is meant to prevent.
Other sports have solved the same problem in different ways: soccer uses penalty shootouts, hockey uses sudden-death overtime and shootouts, and international baseball competitions and some amateur and minor-league levels have used a runner-on-base tiebreaker of their own. The major-league rule borrows from that tradition, and the minor leagues used a version of it before MLB did, in experiments at some levels starting in 2018.
Why MLB adopted it in 2020
The stated reasons were practical. In 2020, the season was shortened to 60 games, begun in July, and played under a strict health protocol. Long games meant more pitching, more travel risk if games bled into late evening, and more strain on relievers in a schedule with little room to recover. MLB and the players' union agreed to a package of temporary rules for that season, which also included a universal designated hitter in the National League and seven-inning doubleheaders.
Of the temporary measures, the runner is among those that continued. Management argued that it would shorten extra-inning games and reduce the number of relievers a club had to use to get through a tie. The rule was kept for 2021, and then continued in the seasons after that. The seven-inning doubleheader was not retained beyond 2021; the article on doubleheaders and seven-inning games covers that format and how an extra inning works within it.
An important limit: the runner applies only in the regular season. Postseason games, including extra-inning playoff games, continue to be played the traditional way, with no placed runner. A fan who watches an October game that goes into the eleventh will see the old format.
How it changes the decision to bunt
For decades, the sacrifice bunt was treated as a poor play in most circumstances, because giving up an out for one base usually reduces the number of runs a team is expected to score. The extra-inning runner changes the arithmetic in a specific way.
Here is a simple illustration, with invented numbers meant only to show the logic. Suppose a team in the top of the tenth, with a runner on second and nobody out, has a 40 percent chance to score exactly one run, a 15 percent chance to score two or more, and a 45 percent chance of scoring none. A bunt that moves the runner to third with one out might raise the chance of scoring at least one run, while lowering the chance of a big inning. If the team's goal is to get a single run, because it can then rely on its best relievers, the bunt can make sense. If it needs a cushion, the bunt is less attractive.
The home team in the bottom half faces a cleaner version of the same problem. It needs only one run to win, and the walk-off ends the game at once. A manager in that spot is deciding whether to maximise the probability of getting the runner home, and a bunt that puts him on third, where a fly ball, a ground ball or even a wild pitch can score him, becomes a stronger choice. That is why the sacrifice bunt in extra innings became a regular topic of discussion. In the top of the inning, by contrast, a team that scores once is giving the other side a chance to answer with its own runner.
Intentional walks and the open base
The open base at first changes the defense's calculation as well. With a runner on second and first base open, a manager can walk the batter to set up a force play or a double play at any base. Since 2017 an intentional walk no longer requires four pitches; the manager signals the umpire and the batter takes first. The article on the intentional-walk rule change explains the mechanics.
The trade-off is that a walk puts a second runner on base, so the next hit can score two. In an extra inning it is a good deal when the batter on deck is weaker than the one walked. It becomes poor strategy when the next hitter is dangerous, or when the walk loads the bases and removes the pitcher's margin for a wild pitch or a hit batter. The placed runner does not make walks free; it makes the choice between walking a batter and pitching to him come up more often.
Bullpens, benches and roster management
The runner also changes how managers spend relievers. Before 2020, a manager in a tied game might use a long relief pitcher for several innings and hope the opponent failed to score. With the runner, the most important inning is the first extra one, and a manager has a reason to use a top reliever there. Because the inning begins with a runner in scoring position, a pitcher who can strike out batters becomes more valuable than one who induces ground balls.
Roster rules matter here. Active rosters have a limit, 26 players for most of the season, and clubs balance the number of pitchers against bench players. The article on the 40-man and 26-man rosters covers the limits, and the rule's practical effect is that managers can be less afraid of a marathon game consuming the whole bullpen, since fewer games run to the 14th or 15th inning. Limits on mound visits and pickoff throws, covered in the mound visit and pickoff limits article, also affect how a pitcher can hold the runner on second.
Position players have pitched at the end of long extra-inning games when a team ran out of relievers. The rule should make that less likely, though it cannot eliminate it, since a game can still run past the point where a bullpen is spent.
What it does to the length of games
The rule's main effect is on how many extra innings are played. A tied game now has more scoring chances in each extra inning, so more tie games end in the tenth or eleventh inning and fewer run long. The marathon games that make baseball history are far less likely to be written.
It is worth being exact about what this does and does not mean. The rule does not change the length of regulation games, which is the main driver of average game time and was addressed separately by the pitch clock. It does not reduce the number of games that go to extra innings, because the game is tied after nine regardless. And it does not necessarily make extra innings more exciting or less so, which is a matter of taste. What it changes is the tail: the long games at the far end of the distribution.
Effects on statistics and betting
The placed runner has side effects on the box score. A runner who begins an inning on second did not reach base through a hit or a walk, so no hitter is credited with putting him there. The scoring rules say how a run by the placed runner is charged to a pitcher; the details are in the scoring section of the Official Baseball Rules, and fans comparing extra-inning performances should be careful about treating those innings like ordinary ones.
For readers who follow betting markets, the practical point is that totals and moneyline bets are settled on the final score of the game, including extra innings, unless a sportsbook's own rules say otherwise, so it is worth reading the book's rules. The moneyline, run line and totals article explains how those bets work. This site does not offer picks or tips, and gambling carries risk of loss. It is for adults of legal age where it is legal, and anyone worried about their own gambling can call 1-800-GAMBLER in the United States.
Arguments for and against
Supporters make three points. The rule shortens extra-inning games and protects pitchers, particularly in a long season. It reduces the number of non-pitchers on the mound. And it produces a decision quickly, which is good for fans, players and schedules.
Critics make three of their own. The runner is an artificial device that changes how runs are scored, and a team can win on a single that would have been only a single in an ordinary inning. Extra innings were once a test of depth and endurance, and the rule removes that test. And the credit and blame given to pitchers and hitters become less clear. A neutral summary is that the rule makes a tie game resolve sooner, at the cost of making that resolution less like regulation baseball.
Common questions
Who is the runner on second? The player in the batting order immediately before that inning's leadoff hitter.
Does the rule apply in the playoffs? No. Postseason games use the traditional format in extra innings.
Does each team get a runner? Yes. Both teams start each extra inning, home and visitor alike, with a runner on second.
Can the game still be tied after extra innings? In the regular season, a game continues until one team leads after a complete inning or the home team takes the lead in the bottom half. Suspended games and weather are separate matters.
Is it a permanent rule? It began as an emergency measure and has remained in use each season since. Check MLB's current rulebook for its official status.
Where to go next
If you want the surrounding rules, read the explainer on doubleheaders, seven-inning games and suspended games, the guide to roster limits and the piece on the intentional-walk rule. For tonight's games, including any that run long, use the site's scores page and the schedule.