This year, for the first time, Minor League Baseball instituted a new rule (new to affiliated ball anyway; it’s been used in international competitions for years) to drastically shorten extra inning games. Starting in the 10th inning (or the 8th in a scheduled doubleheader, since minor league doubleheaders consist of two 7 inning games), every inning starts with runners at first and second. The idea is that some of these runners will score, and that you won’t have too many extra innings. For the River Cats, that generally worked as expected, as their longest game of the year went 11 innings, and just about all of their other extra inning affairs were settled in the first extra frame.
What do 2018 River Cats think about the new minor league extra innings rule?
