Run support is a baseball statistic used to assess a starting pitcher

Starting pitcher

In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....

's good fortune. It measures how many runs

Run (baseball)

In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

 were scored by his team on average when he starts

Games started

In baseball statistics, games started indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he faces the first opposing batter...

. It is considered a somewhat important statistic because a team (and its pitcher) earn wins

Win (baseball)

In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...

by holding its opponents to fewer runs than it scores. Since a pitcher's skill is a large factor in how many runs the opponent scores and a small factor in how many runs his team scores this is a measure of whether the pitcher happened to pitch on days when his team scored a lot. There are two different measures of run support. These statistics may be adjusted for park and league factors.

1. The number of runs scored per nine innings of opponent batting during the pitchers starts.
2. The number of runs per start.