A complete guide to understanding baseball scorecards
A baseball scorecard tracks every play of a game. The main grid shows each batter's at-bats across innings, with special notation to record what happened.
Rows (Players)
Columns (Innings)
Each cell in the grid represents one plate appearance. Here's what each element means:
Format: Balls-Strikes. "3-2" means a full count.
The result of the at-bat. Green for hits/walks, red for outs.
Number of runs batted in. Only shown when RBI > 0.
The diamond shows base runner movement. Highlighted paths show where the batter (and runners) advanced.
Single
Batter reaches 1st
Double
Batter reaches 2nd
Triple
Batter reaches 3rd
Home Run
Batter scores
Crosshatch Pattern = Run Scored
When the diamond has diagonal lines filling it, it means the batter scored a run during this at-bat (or later in the inning based on that at-bat).
No Highlighted Paths = Out
When no paths are highlighted, the batter made an out and didn't reach base.
Runners Advance on Out
Sometimes you'll see highlighted paths even though the batter made an out. This means runners on base advanced during the play (e.g., a groundout that moved a runner from 1st to 2nd, or a sacrifice fly that scored a runner).
These abbreviations describe what happened during each at-bat.
Hits may include a position number showing where the ball went (e.g., 1B7 = single to left field).
A backwards K indicates the batter was called out on strikes without swinging at the final pitch.
Numbers indicate fielding positions involved (see Position Numbers below).
Stolen bases show as a dashed green line on the diamond. Caught stealing and pickoffs show a dashed red line with an X where the runner was out.
On a K DP, the batter strikes out and a runner is caught stealing. You'll see an X on the diamond where the runner was out.
These events may allow runners to advance. Wild pitches and passed balls are shown in green (favorable for the batter).
Errors allow the batter to reach base safely. The number indicates which fielder made the error.
Each fielding position has a number used in scoring notation.
Example: "6-4-3 DP" means a double play where the shortstop (6) threw to second base (4), who threw to first base (3).
The pitching summary below the scorecard shows each pitcher's performance.
| Stat | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| IP | Innings Pitched | 6.2 = 6 full innings + 2 outs |
| H | Hits Allowed | Number of hits given up |
| R | Runs Allowed | Total runs scored against |
| ER | Earned Runs | Runs not caused by errors |
| BB | Walks | Batters walked (4 balls) |
| K | Strikeouts | Batters struck out |