How Long Is a Baseball Game? MLB Average Times and the Pitch Clock

An MLB game lasts about two hours and 40 minutes. In the 2026 regular season the average nine-inning game took 2 hours, 42 minutes, according to MLB figures reported by the Associated Press on September 28, 2026, up from 2:38 in 2025.

That is a big change from a few years ago, when the average game ran past three hours. The pitch clock, introduced in 2023, did most of the work. Below is the season-by-season picture, how the clock works, what still makes some games drag, and what to expect from doubleheaders and the postseason. For the structure of the game itself (nine innings, extra innings, rain rules), see our guide to how many innings are in baseball.

Average MLB game length by season

Baseball has no game clock, so length depends on how many pitches, batters and pauses a game contains. The official time of game, recorded by the official scorer under Rule 9.02(l), runs from first pitch to final out, with delays for weather, light failure or technical problems taken out. Injury delays stay in.

Here are the average times for nine-inning games, as reported by MLB and the AP:

• 2021: 3:10, the longest average on record
• 2022: 3:04
• 2023: 2:40, the first season with the pitch clock
• 2024: 2:36, the shortest since 2:35 in 1984
• 2025: 2:38
• 2026: 2:42, up 3 minutes and 43 seconds from 2025

The jump from 2022 to 2023 is the headline: 3:04 minus 2:40 is 24 minutes per game. A team plays 162 games, so 162 x 24 = 3,888 minutes, which is close to 65 fewer hours of baseball for each team's fans over a season. Games with extra innings or rain delays are not in these averages, so a single evening at the park can still run longer.

How the pitch clock works

MLB calls it the pitch timer. It arrived in 2023 after several years of testing in the minor leagues, and the current settings date from 2024. According to MLB's glossary, the rules are:

• The pitcher has 15 seconds to start his delivery with the bases empty and 18 seconds with runners on. The runners-on limit was 20 seconds in 2023 and was cut to 18 for 2024.
• There is a 30-second timer between batters.
• The batter must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the 8-second mark.
• A pitcher who runs out of time is charged an automatic ball. A batter who is late is charged an automatic strike.
• With runners on, the pitcher gets two disengagements (a pickoff throw or a step off the rubber) per plate appearance. The limit resets if a runner advances. A third pickoff attempt that fails moves the runner up one base, much like a balk.
• Umpires can allow extra time in special cases, such as a catcher who made the last out on the bases and needs to put his gear on.

Here is a rough, clearly hypothetical way to see the effect. Say a game has 280 pitches and the clock trims five seconds of dawdling off each one. 280 x 5 = 1,400 seconds, or about 23 minutes. That is almost exactly the size of the drop MLB saw in 2023, which shows how much of the old three-hour game was simply standing around between pitches.

Why games got longer again in 2026

The 2026 average rose to 2:42 even though the pitch clock settings did not change. The biggest new factor was the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, which began full time in the majors in 2026. Each team starts a game with two challenges and keeps any challenge that succeeds. Only the pitcher, catcher or batter can ask for a review, and a computer tracking system then decides whether the pitch was a ball or a strike.

MLB said 61 seconds of the 2026 increase came from ABS challenges. Put in numbers: the total rise was 3 minutes, 43 seconds, which is 223 seconds. 61 divided by 223 is about 0.27, so roughly a quarter of the extra time came from challenges. MLB did not give a full breakdown of the rest, so the remaining two and a half minutes or so should be read as a mix of normal game factors rather than one cause.

What makes a baseball game longer

Two games played under the same rules can differ by an hour. These are the usual reasons:

• Runs and baserunners: More batters means more pitches, and runners on base bring pickoff throws, mound conversations and the longer 18-second timer.
• Pitching changes: Each new reliever needs time to jog in and take warmup pitches. The three-batter minimum in Rule 5.10(g), which requires a pitcher to face at least three batters or finish the inning, limits how often managers can make a change.
• Replay reviews and ABS challenges: Each one pauses the game while the call is checked.
• Extra innings: Every extra inning adds time, although the regular season automatic runner on second base usually ends them quickly.
• Breaks between innings: These are timed. MLB's pace-of-play rules set regular season breaks at two minutes for both local and national broadcasts starting in 2019, and the postseason has its own longer break, first set at 2 minutes, 55 seconds for 2018.
• Weather: Rain delays do not count toward the official time of game, but they certainly count toward the time you spend at the ballpark.

Doubleheaders: two games in one day

A doubleheader is two games between the same teams on the same date, usually to make up a rainout. In a traditional doubleheader one ticket covers both games. In a split doubleheader, often called a day-night doubleheader, the games are ticketed separately and the stadium is cleared between them.

For a traditional doubleheader, Rule 4.08(c) says the second game starts 30 minutes after the first one ends, unless the umpire-in-chief announces a longer break of up to 45 minutes. Using the 2026 average, the math looks like this: 2:42 + 0:30 + 2:42 = 5 hours, 54 minutes, before any extra innings or rain.

Both games are nine innings. MLB played seven-inning doubleheaders in 2020 and 2021 as a pandemic measure, then went back to nine innings in 2022.

Postseason games run longer

Playoff games take noticeably more time than regular season games. The AP reported that postseason nine-inning games averaged 3:02 in 2023, the first October with the pitch clock, down from 3:23 in 2022 and 3:37 in 2021. ESPN reported the postseason average stayed at 3:02 in 2024. Compare that with the 2024 regular season average of 2:36 and the difference is 26 minutes per game.

The reasons are easy to spot. Breaks between innings are longer for television. Managers use their bullpens more aggressively when every game matters. And there is no automatic runner in extra innings, so a tied playoff game can go a very long way: Game 3 of the 2025 World Series between the Dodgers and Blue Jays went 18 innings and lasted 6 hours, 39 minutes before Freddie Freeman ended it with a home run.

Planning your day at the ballpark

For a regular season game, budget about three hours from first pitch to walking out of the gates, which leaves room for a slower night. For a traditional doubleheader, plan on roughly six hours including the break. Playoff games deserve well over three hours, and more if the score is close late. Check the forecast too, because a rain delay can add an hour or more that the official game time will never show.

One small quirk helps with timing: the home team does not bat in the bottom of the ninth if it is already winning, so a home win often finishes a few minutes earlier than a road win.

Quick reference: how long a baseball game lasts

The short version, with the season each number comes from:

• 2026 MLB regular season average (nine innings): 2:42
• 2025 MLB regular season average: 2:38
• Last full season before the pitch clock (2022): 3:04
• Postseason average, nine-inning games: 3:02 in both 2023 and 2024
• Gap between doubleheader games: 30 minutes, up to 45
• Pitch clock: 15 seconds bases empty, 18 seconds with runners on, 30 seconds between batters