question on earned runs

Question
i know what earned runs are and what runs are unearned but there is a scenierio i'm not sure about.

the situation just occured in a game today and it got me thinking here is the play by play

- M. LeCroy walked  
- L. Ford reached on fielder's choice, M. LeCroy to third on third baseman M. Mora's throwing error  
- M. Cuddyer hit sacrifice fly to right, M. LeCroy scored  
- J. Bartlett grounded into double play shortstop to first, L. Ford out at second  

now i thought that should be unearned b/c he would not have scored on the sacfly if not for the error and then the double play gives three outs and no chance for him to score even if he advanced to third on the sacfly play but it was called an earned run.

my question is why it is earned if it wouldn't have happened if the error didn't occur?

thank you for your help.

Answer
Matt,

I agree with you.  In section 10.18 of the major league rulebook, it discusses earned runs.  One of the clauses is:

(d) No run shall be earned when the runner's advance is aided by an error, a passed ball, or defensive interference or obstruction, if the scorer judges that the run would not have scored without the aid of such misplay.

The only thing I can think of is that the scorer thought the runner would score even if the error wasn't made.  Based on your description, I can't believe they would make that decision.

So, I'm not sure what happened.  Sometimes the first box score is wrong and is corrected later - check boxes for the game from a couple different services and see if you see any differences.  Also, if you can find the pitcher's official stats from before and after the game, you might be able to see if the run really was earned or not.

Hope this helps!

Brian