In baseball, a batted ball is considered a sacrifice fly (denoted by SF) if the following four criteria are met:

• There are fewer than two outs.
• The ball is hit to the outfield: a fly ball.
• The batter is out because an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield catches the fly ball (or would have been out if not for an error).
• A runner who is already on base scores on the play.

A sacrifice fly is not counted as a turn at bat (AB) for the batter and he is also credited with a run batted in (RBI). The purpose of not counting a sacrifice fly as an at bat is to avoid penalizing hitters for a successful tactical manuver. Baseball managers frequently direct their players to hit a sacrifice fly with a player on third base with less than two outs.

The sacrifice fly is still credited even if another runner is put out for failing to tag up (return to his base after the catch), so long as the run scores prior to the third out. A fly-out double play does not affect the validity of the sacrifice fly.

In the case of a fly ball dropped for an error, the sacrifice fly is only credited if the official scorer believes the run would have scored had the ball been caught.

In most cases, the sacrifice fly results because a runner scores from third base. However, in rare cases, a fast runner may legally tag up and score from second base if the fly ball was hit to a particularly deep part of the field. By rule, this is still credited as a sacrifice fly and an RBI, unless the player only reaches home due to an error.

See also

• Baseball statistics

External link

• MLB Official Rules: 10.00 The Official Scorer