Does the run score or not

[Guest Randy]

The bases are loaded and there are two outs. The ball is hit to the 3rd baseman, and instead of stepping on 3rd base for a force out, the 3rd baseman attempts to tag the runner running from 2nd to 3rd. The runner is able to elude the 3rd baseman until after the runner that was on 3rd base crosses the plate. The 3rd baseman eventually tags the runner going from 2nd to 3rd out. Does the run score?

[noumpere]

Was the runner forced from second?  Yes.  So, it's a force out.  No run scores.

 

"Tagging a base" and "force out" are not synonyms. "Tagging a runner" and "force out" are not antonyms.

[Senor Azul]

To our guest Randy, it is obvious by the way you ask your question that you know a run cannot score on a force out. So here’s the rule that should help you understand what constitutes a force out—

2021 Official Baseball Rules

Rule 5.09(b) Any runner is out when:

(b) Retiring a Runner

(6) He or the next base is tagged before he touches the next base, after he has been forced to advance by reason of the batter becoming a runner…

***

So, by rule it was a force out on the tag of the runner and therefore the run would not count because the runner from third base advanced to the plate during a play in which the third out is made by a runner being forced out.

[beerguy55]

"Force" or "Forced" is a status applied to the runner - not the base, not the ball, and not the fielder.

The runner is forced to advance to the next base - brought on by the runner (or batter-runner) behind them...as long as all those runners behind him are alive, that runner is "forced" - if they get put out before they reach their required base, it's a force out.  And at that point, the third out rule for forced runners applies.  If the runner reaches and goes past third, the force is no longer in play.

The "force" status allows, not requires, the fielder to tag the base instead of the runner.   Conversely, other situations that allow the fielder to touch the base, like an appeal, are not necessarily force plays.