Average LCS game time up 12 minutes as scoring rises, overall postseason figure falls to 3:00

By: The Associated Press Posted: 2:11 PM CDT Monday, Oct. 21, 2024 Last Modified: 3:41 PM CDT Monday, Oct. 21, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — The average time of a nine-inning game in the League Championship Series rose 12 minutes to 3:16 this year along with an increase in scoring, though the overall postseason figure has fallen by two minutes to 3:00 in the second year of the pitch clock.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/10/2024 (380 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The LCS average was 3:40 in 2021, then fell to 3:26 in the first season of the PitchCom electronic pitch-calling device and 3:04 last year when the pitch clock was instituted.

Runs per game in the LCS averaged 11.3, up from 8.8 in 2023 and 7.9 in 2022 and 9.9 in 2021.

FILE - The pitch clock is visible as Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Dean Kremer winds up to deliver during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, April 24, 2023, in Baltimore, Md. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

The postseason average for nine-inning games through the LCS is down from 3:22 in 2022 and 3:37 in 2021. Scoring of 8.2 runs per game was 8.0 last year, 7.9 in 2022 and 8.7 in 2021.

Division Series games averaged 3:00, down from 3:06 last year, 3:22 in 2022 and 3:33 in 2021. The Wild Card Series averaged 2:44, falling from 2:50 last year, 3:19 in 2022 and 3:44 for the wild card games in 2021.

Last year’s postseason average finished at 3:02, down from 3:23 in 2022 and 3:37 in 2021. The World Series last year averaged 3:01, the fastest since 1996, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

This season’s regular-season average of 2:36 declined four minutes from 2023 and 28 minutes from 2022. It had not been this low since 1984’s 2:35.

MLB shortened the pitch clock with runners on base by two seconds to 18 ahead of the 2024 season while keeping it at 15 seconds without runners on base.