One Run Games - Looking For Tips

I've noticed often when my teams aren't doing well I am typically losing a lot of one-run games. Is there a strategy to counteract that or is it mostly luck? Better relievers with more endurance seem plausible but since they're pretty expensive I'm not sure how worthwhile it is to invest bigger amounts. It also means your starters and/or hitters will be weaker so in theory you'd have worse performance in the early and middle innings. Other considerations seem fairly straightforward (strong lineups/ball park synergy/etc) so I'm wondering if I'm overlooking something.

Two of the bigger things I can think of not mentioned are clutch and defense. I don’t have exact #’s or percentages that they will add to your win total but I’d imagine both add a decent amount through a season


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To be more clear in terms of the one run games, switching out anyone with a 3 range or higher with defensive subs. I have two guys that I like that are cheap and can cover most positions. Usually one infield and one outfield , with the outfielder having an above avg arm. And catcher too if needed. Same as outfield with the arm.

The clutch part is a little more self explanatory clutch players will produce more in big spots giving you the edge in a tight game.

There are a lot of variables, but don't underestimate pitcher fatigue. A lot of managers will put their starters on slow hook or F0 and regret it when their otherwise studly pitcher gets knocked around in the late innings.

Like so many other parts of this game, it often comes down to the little things in those close games.

I think the majority of them are lost LATE due to pitcher fatigue or crappy relievers or both.

Another big factor in close games is defense, above average defense will keep you in more close games whereas below average defense will blow games on you that you might have otherwise won.

And it truly can be any aspect of defense: range, e rating, outfield arm, catcher's arm, PB rating, T rating, Balk or Wild Pitch rating. All of those little things can add or subtract a run here or there and that often ends up being the difference in those 1 run games.

Thanks for the ideas Pitcher fatigue could be part of my problem but I'm not sure. I usually try to keep my good starters in for at least a little bit longer as I've found that HAL can get a little trigger-happy at times and pull them early. Sometimes I use slow hook and other times I adjust the fatigue settings. In theory, if it's a 10-12M pitcher it should be a reasonable decision I would think. Overall I'm doing decently well but the one-run games can be a problem. I currently have Jake Arietta 11M 7* set to slow hook and in 17.1 innings he gave up 18 runs and my park is 8 8 0 0. I'm sure this is mostly just bad luck but slow hooking him may have been a mistaken. Extremely small sample size though.

As for relievers I'd say I spend about an average amount vs what other players spend. I avoid anyone expensive such as 3M+ but will splurge a bit for elite specialists at times (close to 2M). Generally speaking I think my pitching is usually good. I'm also very biased toward 1 rated defenders and strong arms so my defense tends to be elite. However at times it almost seems like defense doesn't matter as the platoon teams with all 3s and 4s and average pitching feel impossible to score runs against. Sometimes it's just confusing

As for defensive replacements I stopped using them because they come in in the 7th inning and really hamper my offense. I've found that in practice what often happens is they enter the game and the opponent scores and now I'm behind with a weaker offense. That said I do generally have very strong defense to begin with so my situation may be a bit different.

In 9 inning games, I think the results of one run games boils down mostly to luck.

However in extra inning games (many of which become one run games), the bullpen factors in heavily.
The 4x9*stud strategy is great until the 10th+ inning when the $0.50 bullpen comes in.

That's a good point, labratory. I try many different pitching setups so perhaps I need to go back and examine my teams and look for patterns. The tricky part is that winning one run games is not free - the money has to come from somewhere so even if you win more one run games you could end up with a worse record.

I do look forward to ATG 10 as I suspect we'll see some rebalancing of reliever salaries. I used to love playing expensive relievers in 80M DH but these days I find it usually just gets me into trouble. That said I have seen strong managers pull it off many times.

i heard that if you burn sandalwood incense and sacrifice a chicken, your chances of winning one run games increases by .000001 %

i heard that if you burn sandalwood incense and sacrifice a chicken, your chances of winning one run games increases by .000001 %

Lol. Given the current economy the cost of materials may be too expensive to justify the minuscule edge gained

A strong, rested bullpen helps a lot in 1-run games, particularly in the 10th+ innings.