Run differential


In baseball, run differential is a cumulative team statistic that combines offensive and defensive scoring. Run differential is calculated by subtracting runs allowed from runs scored. The run differential is positive if a team scores more runs than it allows, while it is negative if a team allows more runs than it scores.
Run differential can be used to predict the expected win total for a team, via a formula devised by Bill James, the Pythagorean expectation.

Records

The best run differential in an MLB season is +411, set by the 1939 New York Yankees, who scored 967 runs and allowed 556 runs. The worst run differential was by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders at -723. The highest run differential in a single game in major league history is 29, when the Chicago Colts beat the Louisville Colonels 36–7 on June 29, 1897, and the record in baseball's modern era is 27, when the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 30–3 on August 22, 2007. The biggest run differential in a shutout is 22, when the Cleveland Indians defeated the New York Yankees 22–0 on August 31, 2004.