re: Shouldn't this have been a unearned run?

quote:

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But, the whole point of having earned vs unearned runs is to not punish the pitcher (ERA) for mistakes that are beyond his control.

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That's one way to look at it, but it's also to separate pitching from fielding.

A pitcher making a fielding mistake doesn't mean he pitched poorly, he just committed an error after the fact.

It's all fairly inexact anyway, as an outfielder losing a fly ball in the sun and letting what should be a routine out drop would be considered a hit instead of an error.