quality start

[ kwol-i-tee stahrt ]

noun

, Baseball.

1. a statistic indicating that a pitcher has pitched at least six innings in a game while allowing no more than three earned runs. : QS

Word History and Origins

Origin of quality start¹

First recorded in 1920–25, for an earlier sense; 1995–2000, for the current sense

Example Sentences

At this point, the most likely candidate to give them a quality start might be Walker Buehler.

From Los Angeles Times

But Knack’s quality start could not match the one delivered by Matthew Boyd, the Cleveland left-hander who held a prolific Dodgers offense to one run and three hits in six innings of the Guardians’ 3-1 victory in Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

From Los Angeles Times

Tyler Glasnow delivered a quality start, Teoscar Hernández and Shohei Ohtani hit home runs, and the bullpen survived a harrowing eighth inning with the help of a missed call, as the National League West-leading Dodgers held on for a 5-3 victory over the NL-East leading Philadelphia Phillies in Chavez Ravine on Monday night.

From Los Angeles Times

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered a quality start, giving up one run and seven hits in six innings and turning the game over to the bullpen with a three-run lead.

From Los Angeles Times

It was his sixth quality start of the season and the Mariners’ 32nd quality start this season, moving them to the most in MLB just ahead of the Phillies at 31.

From Seattle Times