Another Rules Question

[Wrathchild]

My team is Visitor. We start the 9th inning leading 10-7. We score 0 in our half of the 9th. My pitcher for the 9th inning is the same pitcher who pitched the 8th inning and has given up no runs. He gets the first two outs of the inning. I then bring my Closer. He gives up 2 runs, making the score 10-9. He then gets the third out. Why was he not given credit for a Save in this game?

[throttle8]

10.19 Saves For Relief Pitchers

A save is a statistic credited to a relief pitcher, as set forth in this Rule 10.19.

The official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all four of the following conditions:

(a) He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
(b) He is not the winning pitcher;
(c) He is credited with at least a third of an inning pitched; and
(d) He satisfies one of the following conditions:

(1) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning;
(2) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat or on deck (that is, the potential tying run is either already on base or is one of the first two batters he faces); or
(3) He pitches for at least three innings.




I got my scoring info from the link below


http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/official_scorer_10.jsp

[Wrathchild]

I'm printing that post, as it's obvious I need to keep an eye on that as I want to increase my Closer's Saves, but not bring him in too early as he has a habit to screw up if I give him too much time on the mound.

[Wrathchild]

I'm not sure I'm completely understanding this rule. The opposition was batting in the bottom of the 9th and my team led 4 to 2. After two outs I brought my closer in to get the Save. However, he wasn't credited with a Save. Wouldn't clause (2) above give him the Save? Doesn't the On Deck batter qualify as the potential tying run, assuming the current batter gets on and scores? Or does it go on the assumption that the current batter will be put out? Would I have had to have had only a 1 run lead in this case to get the Save?

[Frozen Stiffer]

Yes to both questions at the end.

Note: "that is, the potential tying run is either already on base or is one of the first two batters he faces"

Your potential tying run is neither on base or the batter you're facing. If that batter (who ended up being the last out) would have made it on base, THEN he would have earned the save. At that point, the tying batter WAS one of the two he faced. The on-deck batter was the tying run, but your closer never faced him.

If the first batter he faces does not get on base (because he was out), since he was not the tying run, there is no save. This is one of those things that comes easily enough, but is difficult to explain.

[Wrathchild]

Going toward the end of August I'm trying to get my Closer with 32 Saves as many more as he can get. So after 6 innings I take out my Starter with a comfortable 5 run lead. My Closer pitches the last 3 full innings, with the final score being us up by 3. My Starter got the Win, but my Closer didn't get a Save. Shouldn't he have, since he pitched 3 full innings, and never relinquished the lead, regardless of what the score was when he came in the game?