MLB-partnered Frontier League adopting sudden-death extras rule

The Frontier League, which serves as an MLB partner but not an official affiliate, is introducing a new sudden-death extra-innings rule.

The league announced the change Monday, which will see teams who stay tied after regulation play one inning of extras under international tiebreaker rules - with the runner on second. If the game stays tied again, a decisive 11th frame will be played.

"Field managers will meet with umpires, with the home manager choosing offense or defense," the league said in a statement. "For the team on offense, the player on the lineup card immediately preceding the batter due up will start on first base. The defensive team will have three outs to prevent the offense from scoring. If the team on offense scores, they will win the game, while if the defensive team retires the side without scoring a run, they will win."

The Frontier League consists of 16 teams and became an official MLB partner in 2020. However, none of its teams are official affiliates or farm organizations for any of the big-league clubs. Its MLB partnership enables marketing and promotional initiatives.

MLB introduced the runner-on-second extra-innings rule during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and kept it in place for 2021. However, commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that that rule - along with the seven-inning doubleheaders - will likely be dropped moving forward.