Expert: Brian Flaspohler - 5/29/2008

Question
Hi,

I live in australia and love watching the baseball streamed live on pay tv. I also like betting on the games. But i have noticed that you can only bet on pitchers, not the actual team that will win. I am wondering if you can explain to me which pitcher wins and loses. There have been some instances where i thought my pitcher would win and they havent. The odds are such that it is clear that one pitcher must win and one must lose, there is no option to draw. Hope you can help.

Thanks,

Matt

Answer
Matt,

A pitcher that starts a major league game must pitch at least five complete innings to be credited with a win.  Then, if he departs the game when his team is leading and his team never gives up the lead, he will get the win.

Otherwise, 99.9% of the time, the pitcher that is in the game when his team takes a lead that it never gives up, will be given the win.  In rare cases, an official scorer may award the win to a pitcher who was the most effective, even if he wasn't in the game when his team took the lead.  But this happens less then once per year in the major leagues.

Hope this helps!

Brian