Editing Baseball rules (section)

===Innings and determining a winner===
[[File:Rochester Red Wings walkoff (17043555577).jpg|thumb|Baseball games sometimes end in a [[walk-off home run]], with the batting team usually gathering at home plate to celebrate the scoring of the winning run(s).]]
An ''[[inning]]'' consists of each team having one turn in the field and one turn to hit, with the visiting team batting before the home team. A standard game lasts nine innings, although some leagues (such as high school baseball and [[Little League]]) play fewer. Most high school games last seven innings, and Little League has six innings. A single game between two teams during NCAA competition is nine innings. A doubleheader in NCAA competition may be two seven inning games, two nine inning games, or one nine inning game and one seven inning game between the same teams.  The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins. If the home team is ahead when the middle of the last inning is reached, it is declared the winner, and the last half-inning is not played. If the home team is trailing or tied in the last scheduled inning (or in an extra inning, see below) and they score to take the lead, the game ends as soon as the winning run touches home plate; however, if the last batter hits a home run to win the game, he and any runners on base are all permitted to score.

If both teams have scored the same number of runs at the end of a regular-length game, a [[tie (draw)|tie]] is avoided by the addition of [[extra innings]]. As many innings as necessary are played until one team has the lead at the end of an inning. Thus, the home team always has a chance to respond if the visiting team scores in the top half of the inning; this gives the home team a small tactical advantage. In theory, a baseball game could go on forever; in practice, however, they eventually end. In addition to that rule, a game might theoretically end if both the home and away team were to run out of players to substitute (see Substitutions, below). In Major League Baseball, the longest game played was a 26-inning affair between the [[Brooklyn Robins]] and [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] on May 1, 1920. The game, called on account of darkness, ended in a 1–1 tie. Two [[minor league baseball|minor-league]] teams, the [[Pawtucket Red Sox]] and [[Rochester Red Wings]], played a [[longest professional baseball game|33-inning game]] in 1981.

In Major League Baseball, games end with tie scores only in rare cases when conditions make it impossible to continue play. A tie game does not count as a game in the standings—a 2008 rule change made all tie games suspended unless and until not needed for the sake of determining playoff teams, and no longer replayed; however, though undecided, and not factored in the championship standings and the playoff reckoning, a tie game goes on the record and player and team statistics from it are counted. Inclement weather may also shorten games, but at least five innings must be played for the game to be considered official; four-and-a-half innings are enough if the home team is ahead. Previously, [[curfew]]s and the absence of adequate lighting caused more ties and shortened games—now, games interrupted from ending in such circumstances are, at least initially, suspended. Also, with more modern playing surfaces better able to handle light rains, the process for calling or shortening a game due to weather has changed; it is more common than in the past to delay a game as much as two hours before a cancellation; also, a delay usually does not occur anymore until the rain is moderate-to-heavy and/or there is standing water on some part of the playing field.

In Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, if the score remains tied after nine innings, up to three extra innings may be played (6 in the playoffs) before the game is called a tie. Since 2011 only regular season games have a 3-hour, 30-minute time limit. Some youth or amateur leagues will end a game early if one team is ahead by ten or more runs, a practice officially known as the "runs ahead rule" (sometimes referred to as a "[[mercy rule]]" or "slaughter rule"). Rarely, a game can also be won or lost by [[forfeit (baseball)|forfeit]].

There is a short break between each half-inning during which the new defensive team takes the field and the pitcher warms up. An existing pitcher is permitted five warm-up pitches and a new pitcher is permitted eight warm-up pitches. The starting pitcher is permitted eight warm-up pitches to begin the game. Traditionally, the break between the top half and the bottom half of the seventh inning is known as the [[seventh-inning stretch]]. During the "stretch", fans in the United States often sing the chorus of ''[[Take Me Out to the Ball Game]]''. However, since the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], ''[[God Bless America]]'' has often been added to it, especially at games in New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as during the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] and the [[Major League Baseball postseason|postseason]]. In Atlanta and Baltimore it has been a tradition since 1974 to play "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" after "[[Take Me Out To The Ballgame]]" during the seventh-inning stretch. At Boston's [[Fenway Park]], a tradition has brought the singing of "[[Sweet Caroline]]" in the middle of the eighth inning.