Any game played to a decision will have a W assigned to one pitcher and an L assigned to an opposing pitcher. In almost all cases, the tipping point is which pitchers are the "pitchers of record" -- the current in-game pitchers, active on the field (or was the most recently active, if his team is playing offense at the moment) -- when the run is scored (by either team) which establishes a score lead which is not relinquished for the remainder of the game. NEVER RELINQUISHING THE LEAD is the key point, not which specific run scored eventually appears as the winning run.
The W goes to the pitcher who was most recently on the mound for his team (because scoring the permanent go-ahead run requires playing offense), though it's not quite that simple. For the starting pitcher to earn the W, he has to pitch at least 5.0 innings; if he doesn't, but his team has the lead when he leaves and never relinquishes it, the W will go to the relief pitcher (if there is only one) or the official scorer will assign it to whichever reliever (if there's more than one) he thinks was the most effective. And there is an extremely rare exception where the "pitcher of record" can be so INeffective that the official scorer can award the W to another pitcher.
The L goes to the pitcher who was responsible for the permanent go-ahead run. There's not really any way around it.
In the 27-April-2014 Reds@Braves game, Atlanta SP Teheran pitched 8.0 innings before being relieved opening the ninth inning. When he left the game, the score was 0-0 -- so no lead had been established and he was not eligible to gain the W. Walden then pitched the ninth, but the score was still 0-0, so the game went into extra innings (yay! free baseball!). In the top of the tenth, Carpenter (in relief of Walden) got two outs, was relieved by Thomas, who got the third out. Bottom of the tenth, Gattis pinch-hit for Thomas (but this does not make Gattis the in-game pitcher; he'd have had to actually pitched for that to happen; Thomas was still the pitcher of record, even after he was removed from the game this way). He struck out, but the subsequent Braves batters finally cobbled together a run, winning the game 1-0 and, per the rules, giving the day's W to Thomas. Which seems rather unfair to Teheran and his sterling performance, but that's the rule.
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Darn, I really thought Loathsome Rhodents was back on the meds, but obviously not. And he was showing such small but real progress.
There's nothing as silly and uninsightful as a typical unintelligible answer from the queen of cut and paste, Chimpmaker, so I'll make it easy for you to understand.
When Teheran left today's game after eight innings the game was tied (at 0-0). Thomas got the win because he was the pitcher of record for Atlanta when the Braves scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. And though you didn't ask, Hoover took the loss for Cincinnati -- even though Parra allowed the game-winning hit -- because he put the winning run on base.
The winning pitcher is the one who is the pitcher IN THE GAME when the team goes ahead and does not fall behind again.
This can get complicated. In your case, Teheran did not get the win because he was not the pitcher of record when the winning run was scored. Thomas was the pitcher of record since he got the final out in the top of the 10th inning and the Braves scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
The winning / losing pitcher is not determined by the runs, hits, walks, and strikeouts, etc. that they give up / get / and / or have, but rather when they are pitching in the game. If the pitcher (A) leaves the game when the team is up, and the team maintains the lead for the rest of the game, then the pitcher (A) gets the win, or same with losses. However, if the pitcher (A) leaves with the lead, then the other team takes the lead, and pitcher (B) is the pitcher who is in the game when they both take and maintain the lead for the rest of the game, then that pitcher (B) gets the win. If a pitcher comes out when it is tied, or comes in when down and leaves when tied, then one of the pitchers after them, who is pitching once they take the lead for good, would get / earn the win.
For Example:
A. B.
0. 0
1. 0
1. 0
0. 1
0. 0
0. 0
2 *Pitcher Leaves* 0
0. 1
1. 0
In this case, the Starting Pitcher gets the Win.
A. B.
0. 0
0. 1
1. 2
0. 1
0. 2
Just to make it a lot simpler than all these people, the pitcher that got the last out before the lead was taken gets the win.
Baseball noob here- I'm just now starting to really get into baseball, and I'm still learning some of the rules. I am confused by how they determine the winning pitcher in certain situations.
For instance, the Braves beat the Reds today, and Julio Teheran was the Braves starting pitcher. I was looking at the box score and saw that Teheran pitched 8 full innings, however, Ian Thomas got the win despite pitching only a third of an inning!
Can someone please explain how they determined this??
