Every MLB regular-season extra half-inning starts with a runner on second.

The rule and version used here

This page applies the 2026 Official Baseball Rules issued by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, principally Rule 7.01(b)(2), to 2026 Major League Baseball regular-season games in the United States and Canada. Scoring follows Rules 7.01(b)(2)(C), 9.02 and 9.16.

This is not a universal rule for every baseball game. MLB postseason competition and the World Baseball Classic use their own tournament provisions, and amateur, youth and other professional competitions may start their tiebreak procedure in a different inning or use none at all.

A tie after nine starts the procedure

If the score is tied after nine completed innings, Rule 7.01(b)(1) continues the game. Under Rule 7.01(b)(2), the top of the tenth begins with a runner on second and no outs. The same is true of the bottom of the tenth and every later half-inning that is played.

The placement does not skip or rearrange a batter. Rule 7.01(b)(2)(A) keeps the same player due to lead off that would have batted first without the extra-innings rule.

Use the current occupant of the preceding lineup spot

Start with the hitter due up, then move one position backward in the batting order. If the No. 7 spot leads off, the player currently occupying the No. 6 spot is placed on second. If the No. 1 spot leads off, move backward around the order to the No. 9 spot.

The relevant name is the player who now occupies that lineup position, not necessarily the starter who originally appeared there. A substitute who entered that spot earlier in the game has taken over the spot for this purpose.

The rulebook provides a second choice when the pitcher precedes the hitter

Rule 7.01(b)(2)(B) says that if the preceding batting-order position is occupied by the pitcher, the team may instead place the player preceding the pitcher in the order on second. This is a specific exception; it is not general permission to select any fast runner.

The exception matters only when the pitcher occupies the relevant batting-order position under the lineup being used. It should not be turned into a claim that a manager always gets two choices.

A pinch-runner is a normal, permanent MLB substitution

The offense may substitute an eligible bench player for the designated runner. Under Rules 7.01(b)(2)(B) and 5.10, that player enters the game in the replaced player’s batting-order position, and the removed player is ineligible to return. The extra-innings rule does not create a free courtesy runner.

A player already in the game in a different lineup position cannot simply be reassigned to second as the pinch-runner. Any later defensive alignment must also comply with the ordinary substitution and lineup rules.

The wrong runner is corrected without a special out

Starting in the tenth, Rule 7.01(b)(2)(D) directs the plate umpire to check the offensive lineup card before each half-inning. If the wrong player is placed, the umpire should identify the error immediately and put the proper runner on second.

If the mistake is found only after play has begun, the proper runner replaces the improper one. The rule says completed plays remain legal and imposes no penalty merely for the improper runner, even if the mistake is noticed after a run scores. A separate batting-out-of-order ruling can still nullify an advancement when that rule applies.

After placement, ordinary baserunning rules take over

The automatic runner starts legally on second with no special immunity. The defense may pick the runner off; the runner may steal, advance on a hit or out, be forced or tagged out where the ordinary rules provide, and must touch or retouch bases normally. Placement itself is not a plate appearance, hit, walk, steal or fielding error in the box score.

Rule 7.01(b)(2)(C) instead tells the official scorer to record how often each player is placed at second. No error is charged to a fielder or team simply because the runner was placed there.

The visitor must survive the bottom half; the home club can walk off

If the visitor takes the lead in the top half, the home team still bats with its own correctly determined runner on second. Under Rule 7.01(b)(1), the visitor wins only if it remains ahead at the end of the completed inning.

If the home team scores the winning run in the bottom half, the game ordinarily ends as soon as that run scores under Rule 7.01(e)(3). If neither team finishes the inning ahead, the next extra inning begins and each club determines a new runner from the lineup position due up in its half.

The placed runner is treated as reaching on an error for earned runs

Rule 7.01(b)(2)(C) deems the automatic runner to have reached second because of a fielding error solely for the earned-run calculation, while charging no actual error. Rule 9.16 then requires the scorer to reconstruct the inning without that assumed error.

Consequently, if the placed runner scores, that runner’s run is unearned against the responsible pitcher. The run still counts in the game score and as a run allowed; “unearned” is only a pitching-statistics classification. Runs scored by later batters are not automatically unearned merely because the inning began with an automatic runner. The scorer applies the normal Rule 9.16 reconstruction to the full sequence.

The No. 7 spot leads off the tenth

Situation: the No. 7 spot is due up. A substitute entered the No. 6 spot in the eighth inning and remains in the game.

MLB 2026 ruling: the current No. 6 player starts on second, and the No. 7 player bats. The decisive fact is the current batting-order position, not the identity of the original No. 6 starter.

The club wants speed on second

Situation: the correct runner is slow, so the manager sends an eligible reserve to second before the inning begins.

MLB 2026 ruling: the reserve is a legal pinch-runner and permanently takes the replaced player’s lineup spot. The removed player cannot return. Rule 7.01 permits the substitute but does not make the move consequence-free.

The lineup mistake is discovered after a single

Situation: the wrong player begins on second and advances to third on the leadoff hitter’s single. The mistake is then noticed.

MLB 2026 ruling: replace the improper runner with the proper runner at third; the single and advancement remain legal. There is no out or other penalty merely for using the wrong runner, subject to any separate batting-out-of-order issue.

A sacrifice fly brings home the placed runner

Situation: the runner advances to third on a sacrifice bunt and scores on a sacrifice fly.

MLB 2026 ruling: the run counts and can win the game, but it is unearned against the responsible pitcher. For earned-run reconstruction, the scorer treats the runner’s original arrival at second as caused by a fielding error.

How to check the ruling

1. Name the competition. Confirm this is an MLB regular-season game governed by the 2026 rules, not the MLB postseason or another baseball competition.
2. Confirm the trigger. The score was tied after nine and this is the start of the tenth or a later half-inning.
3. Keep the proper hitter. Do not change who is scheduled to lead off.
4. Move back one lineup spot. Use the current occupant, with the narrow pitcher exception if it applies.
5. Check for a substitute. A pinch-runner must be eligible and the replaced player cannot return.
6. Correct a placement error. Apply Rule 7.01(b)(2)(D), preserving legal play already completed unless batting out of order changes it.
7. Score the inning separately. Count every legal run in the game score, then apply the Rule 9.16 earned-run reconstruction.

MLB postseason and the 2026 World Baseball Classic differ

• MLB postseason: MLB’s current postseason format guidance, updated August 27, 2025, says the regular-season automatic runner is not used. Extra innings begin with the bases empty.
• 2026 World Baseball Classic: WBCI’s 2026 tournament rules supplement the 2025 Official Baseball Rules and use a runner on second for any inning beginning with the tenth. The provision applies to “all Tournament games,” so there is no MLB-style knockout-round exception. The scheduled hitter and preceding-lineup-position method remain, and the WBC rules expressly use the same fielding-error treatment for earned runs.

These are competition provisions, not evidence that every league using the Official Baseball Rules must make the same choice. Check the appointed competition regulations before applying MLB’s answer to another level of baseball.

Five claims to avoid

• “The manager can choose anyone.” The batting order controls, apart from a legal substitute and the rulebook’s narrow pitcher exception.
• “Only the tenth starts this way.” Every MLB regular-season half-inning after the ninth does.
• “The rule changes who leads off.” It places a runner but preserves the scheduled batter.
• “An unearned run does not count.” It counts in the score; earned and unearned describe pitcher statistics.
• “The same rule applies in October and in every baseball code.” MLB postseason games start extra innings with empty bases, and other competitions publish their own procedures.

A temporary 2020 measure became permanent in 2023

MLB introduced the automatic runner for the shortened 2020 regular season as part of its health-and-safety measures, retained it in 2021 and 2022, and added it permanently to the Official Baseball Rules before the 2023 season. Older descriptions that call it only a temporary pandemic rule are therefore obsolete for the 2026 MLB regular season.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• Office of the Commissioner of Baseball — 2026 Official Baseball Rules, Rules 7.01(b)(2), 7.01(e)(3), 5.10, 9.02 and 9.16
• Major League Baseball — Automatic Runner glossary, current regular-season scope and adoption history
• Major League Baseball — Postseason Format FAQ, updated August 27, 2025, extra-innings exception
• World Baseball Classic, Inc. — 2026 World Baseball Classic rules and modifications, supplementing the 2025 Official Baseball Rules, “Extra Innings”

Checked against the Office of the Commissioner’s rulebook in force for the 2026 MLB season and MLB/WBCI competition guidance available for 2026. The rulebook’s 2026 change summary lists no amendment to Rule 7.01(b)(2). This page’s baseline is the MLB regular season; league, tournament and amateur regulations may supplement or replace that rule outside this scope.