Editing Running up the score (section)

===Baseball===
The [[unwritten rules of baseball]] discourage a team from [[sacrifice bunt]]ing, [[stolen base|stealing bases]], or other [[small ball (baseball)|small ball]] tactics when leading by a large margin late in a game, even though a losing team can theoretically come back from any deficit to win. Batters do not specifically try to make outs (e.g. by swinging at pitches with no intent to hit them) as this would insult the opposing team, violate the spirit of the game, and hurt their own batting average. The bottom of the ninth inning is not played if the home team leads after the top of the ninth inning, preventing pointless score run-ups when the team's victory is already assured.

In a 2021 game where the visiting [[Chicago White Sox]] led the [[Minnesota Twins]] 15-4 late in the game, the Twins put in [[Willians Astudillo]], a position [[utility player]] who normally would not pitch, on the mound for the last inning, a move traditionally seen under the game's unwritten rules as conceding it, to which batters customarily respond by not trying too hard to get hits so the game will end more quickly and without further humiliation to the losing team. After Astudillo had gotten the first two White Sox batters out, rookie [[catcher (baseball)|catcher]] [[Yermín Mercedes]] came to the plate for what was expected to be the game's final out. On a 3-0 count, Astudillo threw a slow pitch over the plate. Mercedes swung his bat, itself a violation of the unwritten rules in that situation, and hit a {{convert|429|ft|m|adj=on}} home run. The Twins were greatly angered, and Sox manager [[Tony LaRussa]] promised Mercedes would be advised not to do so in the future.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31468198/chicago-white-sox-manager-tony-la-russa-upset-rookie-yermin-mercedes-not-showing-respect-your-opponent-victory|title=Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa critical of Yermin Mercedes; Minnesota Twins throw behind slugger night after HR
|first=Jesse|last=Rogers|publisher=[[ESPN]]|date=May 18, 2021|access-date=May 19, 2021}}</ref>

Amateur, high school, and international baseball games often have a [[mercy rule]] so that games end sooner when the lead is deemed to be insurmountable (e.g. by 10 runs after 5 innings). However, since the home team always gets one final at-bat if they are trailing, the visiting team can in theory score unlimited runs in the top half of the inning.