while excluding starts where the pitcher allowed 3 earned runs in less than 7 innings. Starts of at least 6 innings but less that 7 innings would still qualify when not more than 2 earned runs were allowed (2 earned runs in 6 innings is an ERA of 3.00). Under this proposal, the highest ERA would be 3.86 (3 earned runs in 7 innings). References Further reading External links Quality start definition at MLB.com Baseball terminology Pitching statistics