MLB pitcher gets first career win thanks to odd scoring quirk

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Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Chad Smith picked up the first win of his major league career on Wednesday as the team defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4.

But just obtaining the win in his 16th career appearance wasn’t the main part of the interesting story. He received the win thanks to a rarely applied official scoring rule.

Smith pitched the final two innings of the win over the Orioles. He held Baltimore scoreless and allowed only one hit after entering the game in the bottom of the eighth. Oakland scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 7-4 lead in the game.

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Chad Smith of the Oakland Athletics pitches in the ninth for his first career win against the Orioles at Camden Yards on April 12, 2023, in Baltimore. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Usually, it would mean that reliever Jeurys Familia – who pitched the bottom of the seventh and was in the game when Oakland took the lead – would have been awarded the win. But the official scorer for the game chose not to give Familia the win because he was deemed to have a short, ineffective outing.

Familia entered the game with one out in the seventh inning, a man on first and Oakland already up 4-2. Hitting from Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschmann would help tie the game. But Familia would eventually get out of the inning.

But the scorer can make a decision on who gets credited with the win.

Rule 9.17 (c) states: "The official scorer shall not credit as the winning pitcher a relief pitcher who is ineffective in a brief appearance, when at least one succeeding relief pitcher pitches effectively in helping his team