Game totals this season
Every 2026 regular-season game by total runs. Gold bars clear 8.5, the pink bar is exactly 9.
Scoring environment by team
| Team | RS/G | RA/G | Total R/G | Home games R/G | Road games R/G | 9+ runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Rockies | 4.64 | 5.83 | 10.47 | 11.23 | 9.70 | 61.1% |
| Washington Nationals | 5.07 | 5.03 | 10.10 | 10.81 | 9.38 | 60.5% |
| Athletics | 4.31 | 5.78 | 10.10 | 11.84 | 8.36 | 58% |
| Chicago Cubs | 5.25 | 4.34 | 9.59 | 9.70 | 9.47 | 55.6% |
| Minnesota Twins | 4.56 | 4.92 | 9.48 | 9.20 | 9.77 | 52.5% |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 4.73 | 4.56 | 9.30 | 9.91 | 8.68 | 50% |
| Houston Astros | 4.53 | 4.73 | 9.26 | 8.88 | 9.64 | 54.3% |
| Kansas City Royals | 4.26 | 5.00 | 9.26 | 9.98 | 8.54 | 46.9% |
| Chicago White Sox | 4.79 | 4.44 | 9.23 | 8.98 | 9.49 | 55.6% |
| Cincinnati Reds | 4.11 | 5.10 | 9.21 | 8.75 | 9.67 | 54.3% |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4.44 | 4.62 | 9.07 | 8.43 | 9.70 | 48.1% |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 4.56 | 4.51 | 9.07 | 8.96 | 9.17 | 47.5% |
| Baltimore Orioles | 4.46 | 4.59 | 9.05 | 8.53 | 9.57 | 50.3% |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 5.14 | 3.81 | 8.95 | 8.99 | 8.91 | 43.2% |
| New York Mets | 4.31 | 4.51 | 8.83 | 8.67 | 8.99 | 46.3% |
| San Francisco Giants | 4.13 | 4.69 | 8.82 | 8.47 | 9.17 | 48.5% |
| Miami Marlins | 4.41 | 4.40 | 8.81 | 8.41 | 9.21 | 51.2% |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 4.40 | 4.31 | 8.71 | 9.35 | 8.07 | 49.4% |
| Los Angeles Angels | 4.04 | 4.64 | 8.69 | 7.88 | 9.49 | 43.8% |
| San Diego Padres | 4.46 | 4.20 | 8.66 | 8.05 | 9.27 | 46.3% |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 4.94 | 3.70 | 8.65 | 8.58 | 8.72 | 44.4% |
| Texas Rangers | 4.15 | 4.44 | 8.59 | 8.14 | 9.05 | 51.2% |
| Seattle Mariners | 4.10 | 4.46 | 8.56 | 7.94 | 9.17 | 46.9% |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 4.54 | 4.01 | 8.56 | 8.58 | 8.53 | 41.4% |
| Detroit Tigers | 4.46 | 4.02 | 8.49 | 8.15 | 8.83 | 42.6% |
| Atlanta Braves | 4.58 | 3.86 | 8.44 | 8.68 | 8.21 | 49.7% |
| New York Yankees | 4.59 | 3.73 | 8.32 | 8.80 | 7.85 | 43.5% |
| Cleveland Guardians | 4.19 | 4.12 | 8.30 | 8.47 | 8.14 | 45.1% |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 4.00 | 4.28 | 8.28 | 8.30 | 8.27 | 45.1% |
| Boston Red Sox | 4.25 | 3.77 | 8.02 | 8.22 | 7.83 | 42% |
Click a header to sort. These are actual game totals, not records against a posted line.
Every MLB game gets one number that has nothing to do with who wins. The total, or over/under, is the sportsbook’s line on combined runs, and you pick a side. If the Mariners beat the Astros 5-4, nine runs crossed the plate and anyone who took over 8.5 cashed, whichever team they were rooting for. It is the market for people who have a read on how a game will play rather than who will come out ahead.
This page covers how totals get set, why the half run matters, what the juice tells you and which conditions push a number up or down. For the full layout of an MLB board with moneyline and run line next to the total, see our guide to baseball betting lines.
How a baseball total is set
Oddsmakers begin with an expected run projection for each team, built mostly from the two starting pitchers, the lineups each will face and the park. They add the two projections, round to a half or whole number and then move the price or the number as information and money come in.
Most MLB totals land somewhere between 7 and 10 runs. A night game between two strong starters in a pitcher-friendly park might open at 7. A summer afternoon at Coors Field can reach double digits. The starters count more than anything else, which is why a total can move a full run within minutes when a scheduled ace is scratched. Check the MLB probable pitchers board before you look at any number.
Half runs, whole numbers and the push
A total of 8.5 can only win or lose. The combined score is always a whole number, so nine or more runs means over, eight or fewer means under.
A total of 9 introduces a third outcome. If the final is 5-4, exactly nine runs, the bet pushes and your stake comes back. That changes the math. Nine runs is one of the most common final totals in baseball, so the difference between over 8.5 and over 9 is bigger than half a run sounds. Over 8.5 wins on nine runs. Over 9 just refunds you.
Juice on totals
The default price on each side of a total is -110: risk $110 to win $100. Books balance action two ways. They can move the number, say from 8.5 to 9, or they can keep the number and shade the price, listing over 8.5 at -120 and under 8.5 at +100.
That shading is information. An over at -120 implies about a 54.5 percent chance of nine or more runs. The market is saying the game leans high but not by enough to move a full half run. When you see 8.5 at -125 at one book and 9 at -105 at another, you are looking at the same opinion expressed two different ways. Picking between them means asking how often you think the game lands exactly on nine. If you want a quick way to turn these prices into percentages, our odds calculators do the conversion.
What moves a total
The starting pitchers
Strikeout pitchers suppress totals, contact pitchers who give up hard fly balls push them up, and a bullpen game (where a team uses relievers from the first inning) usually means a higher number. A late scratch is the single fastest way to move a total.
Ballpark and weather
Parks change scoring more in baseball than venues do in any other sport. Coors Field sits a mile above sea level in Denver and the thin air lets fly balls carry, which is why totals there run well above the league norm. Wrigley Field in Chicago swings with the wind off Lake Michigan: blowing out toward the bleachers it is a hitter’s park, blowing in it plays small. Heat helps the ball travel, cold and damp air hold it down, and a closed retractable roof takes the weather out of the picture entirely. Our ballpark run environment page ranks every park by how much scoring it adds or removes.
The home plate umpire
It sounds like trivia until you watch it happen. A home plate umpire with a wide strike zone gets more called strikes, more strikeouts and fewer walks, which tends to keep scoring down. A tight zone does the opposite. Umpire assignments are usually known before first pitch, and bettors who follow totals closely check them.
Bullpens and lineups
The starter usually covers five or six innings, so the bullpen decides the last third of a total. A tired relief corps after a string of extra-inning games is a real factor. And a posted lineup with two regulars resting can take a few tenths of a run off a projection.
Extra innings count
At almost every book, runs in extra innings count toward the total. That is good news for over bettors. In the MLB regular season, each extra inning starts with a runner placed on second base, a rule adopted in 2020 and made permanent in 2023. With a runner already in scoring position, teams score in extras far more often than in a normal inning. A 3-3 game after nine that ends 5-4 in the tenth turns an under 8.5 into a loser. The postseason does not use the automatic runner, so extras there play like normal innings.
For how books handle totals in games that get shortened by rain, see our baseball betting rules. Many books require nine innings, or eight and a half if the home team leads, for a total to have action.
Team totals and first-5 totals
If you have a strong opinion on one side of the game only, a team total isolates it. You bet over or under on one team’s runs, perhaps over 4.5 for a strong lineup facing a struggling starter, without caring what the other team does.
First 5 innings totals cut the bullpen out. They are usually a little more than half the full-game number, and they suit bettors who trust their read on the two starters but not on the relievers behind them. Our first 5 innings guide covers these in depth, and the extreme version of the idea is the first inning alone, which is what our NRFI tracker measures.
Reading a total before you bet
Start with the pitchers and the park, then check the forecast for wind direction and temperature, then check the umpire and lineups when they post. By then you will have your own sense of whether the game plays high or low, and only at that point is it worth looking at the number. If your estimate lands within a few tenths of a run of the posted total, there is no bet. If it lands well away from it, compare the price at every book available to you, keeping in mind that a half run and 10 cents of juice are worth more on totals than most people expect. New to the sport’s markets overall? Our baseball betting guide is the best starting point. Keep stakes to a budget you set ahead of time; legal betting in the US depends on your state and is 21+ in most of them, and 1-800-GAMBLER is there if you need it.
