Who gets the win?

[wbcoach]

Scheduled 7 inning game, 4 pitchers were used. Team in question took the lead in the first inning and led the entire game.

Starter went three innings. Allowed 1 run, unearned.
Reliever #1 went two innings. Allowed 4 runs, all earned.
Reliever #2 went one innings. Allowed 1 run, earned.
Reliever #3 entered the game in the 7th with a 7-6 lead. Allowed 0 runs.

So under the letter of the law, the starter didn't go enough innings to get the win. That means the win goes to the pitcher judged to have been most effective in relief. I guess that's the final guy with no runs given up in his inning - but given he'd get a save if one of the other relievers got the win, should I allow that to affect the decision?

[kiefchief]

No, because according to the Major League Baseball Rulebook, one of the conditions of being credited with a save is that the pitcher in question "is not the winning pitcher." [rule 10.20 (2)] The pitcher would get the win; nobody would get the save.

[ixamnis]

I can't find any set guidelines that a scorekeeper can go by to decide which relief pitcher was most effective. Surely it is more than just who gave up the most earned runs. Like # of batters faced, runners left on base, strikeouts, walks. I recall one of the parents of a pitcher on my daughter's travel ball team giving me some guidelines years ago when he didn't think I was assigning the wins and losses to our pitchers correctly, but I have long forgotten them or where to look for them. You would think there is something more than just leaving it up to the scorekeeper to decide which pitcher is most effective. The most effective one in this example to me was the starter! Why can't we still give the win to the starter?

[Taxi_dad]

My suggestion is to carefully read Rule 10.17 of MLB rulebook. As far as the most effective relief pitcher choice is concerned, the comment to the rule reported below is self explanatory.
Bye, Roberto

Rule 10.17(b) Comment: It is the intent of Rule 10.17(b) that a relief pitcher pitch at least one complete inning or pitch when a crucial out is made, within the context of the game (including the score), in order to be credited as the winning pitcher. If the first relief pitcher pitches effectively, the official scorer should not presumptively credit that pitcher with the win, because the rule requires that the win be credited to the pitcher who was the most effective, and a subsequent relief pitcher may have been most effective. The official scorer, in determining which relief pitcher was the most effective, should consider the number of runs, earned runs and base runners given up by each relief pitcher and the context of the game at the time of each relief pitcher’s appearance. If two or more relief pitchers were similarly effective, the official scorer should give the presumption to the earlier pitcher as the winning pitcher.

[wbcoach]

RP3 was the most effective reliever by any metric - runs, earned runs, baserunners allowed - so he gets it.

Thanks for the responses.