Calculating earned runs with errors and sac bunts

[dfranke]

Hi, I tried to search on this to see if it had already been discussed but couldn't find anything...

Trying to figure out how many earned runs are charged in the following scenario:

Ground out - 1 out
Fielding error - 1 out, runner at 1B
Sac Bunt - 2 outs, runner at 2B
Several hits, walks and runs after that before the 3rd out

I'm having trouble recreating the inning without the error because if it wasn't for the error, there would be no sac bunt for the 3rd out.

What is the general guideline for calculating earned runs in this case?

[FTMSupport]

There are 0 earned runs in the scenario you described. You can't take away the sac bunt. The sac bunt is a circumstantial event. The fact is the batter bunted and was out at first which would have been the third out of the inning if not for the fielding error. You can not assume the batter would not have made an out otherwise.