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The pitchers who receive the win and the loss are known, collectively, as the pitchers of record. A pitcher who starts a game but leaves without earning either a win or a loss (that is, before either team gains or surrenders the ultimate lead) is said to have received a no decision, regardless of his
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Since 1990, this has changed even further, as winning 20 or more games in a single season is now achieved by only a handful of pitchers each season. For example, in 2004 only three of the more than five hundred major league pitchers did so. In 2006 and again in 2009, no pitcher in either league won
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holding the record with 60 wins in 1884. Since 1900, however, pitchers have made fewer and fewer starts and the standard has changed. Gradually, as hitting improved, better pitching was needed. This meant, among other things, throwing the ball much harder, and it became unrealistic to ask a pitcher
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If a pitcher leaves the game with his team in the lead or with the score tied, but with the go-ahead run on base, and this runner subsequently scores the go-ahead run, the pitcher who allowed this runner to reach base is responsible for the loss. This is true regardless of the manner in which this
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The second exception applies if the relief pitcher who last pitched prior to the half-inning when the winning team took the lead the last time was "ineffective in a brief appearance" in the official scorer's judgment, in which case the win is awarded to the succeeding relief pitcher who, in the
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instead of a win despite the strong performances, regardless of whether or not the team ends up winning. Starting pitchers on teams with a weak bullpen tend to have fewer wins because of this. Likewise, a pitcher can give a poor performance and give up many runs and leave the game earlier than
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wrote in 2011 that as advanced statistics have expanded, a pitcher's win–loss record has decreased in importance. Many times a win is substantially out of the pitcher's control; even a dominant pitcher cannot record a win if his team does not score any
268:, proceeded to allow two of the runners on base to score, giving the Reds a 6–5 lead. Although Zambrano was not pitching at the time the runs were scored, he was charged with the loss, as the base runners who scored were his responsibility.
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In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win (the "winning pitcher") and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss (the "losing pitcher") in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the
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If a pitcher allows a run which gives the opposing team the lead, his team comes back to lead or tie the game, and then the opposing team regains the lead against a subsequent pitcher, the prior pitcher does not get the loss.
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support. A starting pitcher can pitch brilliantly, leaving the game with the lead, and then watch helplessly from the dugout as the bullpen blows the save and gives up the lead. That would entitle the starting pitcher to a
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must complete a minimum of five innings to earn a win. Failure to do so results in the ineligibility to be the winning pitcher, even if he last pitched prior to the half-inning when he maintains his team's lead. The
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batter originally reached base, and how he subsequently scored. If the relief pitching successfully completes the half-inning without surrendering the go-ahead run, the departed pitcher cannot receive a loss.
300:), winning 30 games became the rare mark of excellent achievement; this standard diminished to 25 games during the 1940s through 1980s (the only pitcher to win 30 or more games during that time was
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727:"Player Pitching Season & Career Stats Finder: For single seasons, since 1920, in the regular season, requiring Decisions >= 40, sorted by descending Decisions"
702:"Player Pitching Season & Career Stats Finder: For single seasons, since 1900, in the regular season, requiring Decisions >= 50, sorted by descending Decisions"
752:"Player Pitching Season & Career Stats Finder: For single seasons, since 2005, in the regular season, requiring Decisions >= 30, sorted by descending Season"
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individual performance. A pitcher's total wins and losses are commonly noted together; for instance, a pitching record of 12–10 indicates 12 wins and 10 losses.
777:"Player Pitching Season & Career Stats Finder: For combined seasons, in the regular season, requiring Decisions >= 600, sorted by descending Decisions"
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The losing pitcher is the pitcher who is responsible for the go-ahead run charged to his team, after which his team does not tie the game or regain the lead.
677:"Player Pitching Season & Career Stats Finder: For single seasons, in the regular season, requiring Decisions >= 70, sorted by descending Decisions"
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of the game in accordance with the league's rules. The official scorer does not assign a winning or losing pitcher in some games which are
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is calculated by dividing the number of wins by the number of decisions (wins plus losses), and it is commonly expressed to three
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410:(31 decisions each in 2010) were the last pitchers to have had 30 or more decisions in a season. The career record is held by
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341:(for whom he pitched) scored the least amount of runs in the Majors with 513 that season while Félix Hernandez had an
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can be awarded to relief pitchers on both sides, but these are never awarded to the pitcher who is awarded the win.
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to throw nearly as hard as he could for over 100 pitches a game without giving him several days to recover.
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365:(0.98). In addition to their dependence on run support, wins for a starting pitcher are also dependent on
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statistic as an indication of how many times a starting pitcher gave his team a realistic chance to win.
125:) is a statistic that indicates the number of wins (denoted "W") and losses (denoted "L") credited to a
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390:(1883) holds the major league record for most decisions (75) in a season. During the 1908 season,
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in the top of the 5th inning. He was taken out of the game with the Cubs leading 5–4 and the
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desired, but still win because his team scored even more runs. Some prefer the
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had a losing record of 12–14, despite displaying a league-best 8:1
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520:"Cincinnati Reds vs. Chicago Cubs – Play By Play – April 13, 2007"
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had 55 decisions, which remains the most in a season since 1900.
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who, in the official scorer's judgment, was the most effective.
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who does not receive credit for a win or loss is said to have
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In the first third of the 20th century (especially after the
137:. The designation of win or loss for a pitcher is known as a
626:"Ben Sheets Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com"
402:(1920–present), recording 44 decisions in 1973. As of 2024,
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There are two exceptions to this rule. The first is that a
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ratio and was among the top 5 pitchers in ERA (2.70) and
495:"July 10, 2021 All-Star Game Play-By-Play and Box Score"
588:"Hapless but Not Hopeless, Blue Jays' Reyes Carries On"
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of 2.27 and pitched 249.2 innings. Similarly, in 2004,
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despite throwing only 14 pitches in a single inning.
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official scorer's judgment, was the most effective.
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List of Major League
Baseball career losses leaders
440:List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
1330:
414:, who had 826 decisions between 1890 and 1911.
312:20 games. The last pitcher to win 25 games was
155:of the winning pitcher can be credited with a
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80:Learn how and when to remove this message
805:Since 1957, Wins without facing a batter
337:in 2010 in spite of a 13–12 record. The
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101:pitched to a 31–6 record during the
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551:, 2019-04-10. Accessed 2023-08-05.
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219:Major League Baseball All-Star Game
24:
1243:Jaffe Wins Above Replacement Score
612:"2010 Seattle Mariners Statistics"
600:from the original on May 25, 2024.
562:"MLB denied 20-game winner in '09"
304:in 1968, in what was an anomalous
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545:Old Hoss Radbourn: 59 or 60 Wins?
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166:The decisions are awarded by the
103:1968 Major League Baseball season
1198:Batting average on balls in play
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398:holds the season record for the
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60:the claims made and adding
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1112:Strikeout-to-walk ratio
959:Walk-to-strikeout ratio
1308:Wins Above Replacement
1288:Out of zone plays made
1165:Defensive indifference
992:Stolen base percentage
630:Baseball-Reference.com
499:Baseball-Reference.com
329:for him. For example,
280:In the early years of
206:awards the win to the
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1313:Win probability added
949:On-base plus slugging
566:Major League Baseball
474:Major League Baseball
282:Major League Baseball
192:Major League Baseball
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1293:Ultimate zone rating
1213:Defensive Runs Saved
1339:Pitching statistics
1203:Batting park factor
1135:Fielding percentage
867:Slugging percentage
841:Baseball statistics
655:Baseball Prospectus
1253:Power–speed number
1025:Pitchers of record
862:On-base percentage
593:The New York Times
549:Baseball Reference
321:The New York Times
227:2021 All-Star Game
176:winning percentage
135:pitchers of record
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45:possibly contains
27:Baseball statistic
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1273:Secondary average
1223:Extrapolated Runs
543:Bonilla, Alex. "
349:starting pitcher
347:Milwaukee Brewers
286:Old Hoss Radbourn
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16:(Redirected from
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1263:Runs created
1258:Range factor
1180:Sabermetrics
1067:Perfect game
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974:Base running
904:Hits per run
784:. Retrieved
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1278:Speed Score
1170:Passed ball
987:Stolen base
914:Total bases
661:October 11,
635:October 11,
571:October 11,
529:October 11,
479:October 11,
396:Wilbur Wood
372:no-decision
148:no decision
1318:Win Shares
1233:Game score
1107:Wild pitch
909:Grand slam
456:References
388:Pud Galvin
351:Ben Sheets
272:Background
266:Will Ohman
54:improve it
1193:Base runs
1072:No-hitter
1057:Strikeout
504:August 9,
355:strikeout
316:in 1990.
314:Bob Welch
172:forfeited
58:verifying
1333:Category
1248:Pop time
1127:Fielding
1007:Pitching
892:Home run
781:Stathead
756:Stathead
731:Stathead
706:Stathead
681:Stathead
598:Archived
524:ESPN.com
418:See also
412:Cy Young
392:Ed Walsh
339:Mariners
333:won the
139:decision
115:softball
111:baseball
1102:Shutout
849:Batting
786:May 30,
761:May 30,
736:May 30,
711:May 30,
686:May 30,
367:bullpen
252:of the
217:In the
127:pitcher
52:Please
1145:Putout
1140:Assist
1117:Maddux
1045:Earned
887:Triple
882:Double
877:Single
159:, and
153:relief
123:record
1150:Error
161:holds
1283:NERD
1082:BB/9
1077:WHIP
1062:Walk
1035:Hold
1030:Save
934:Bunt
929:Walk
788:2024
763:2024
738:2024
713:2024
688:2024
663:2015
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506:2021
481:2015
406:and
363:WHIP
359:walk
357:-to-
327:runs
157:save
117:, a
113:and
1087:K/9
1052:ERA
1040:Run
982:Run
919:RBI
872:Hit
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343:ERA
308:).
190:In
109:In
56:by
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