a ground ball to the second baseman. The runner on first is being forced over to second by the advancing batter. Since this is a force play, the second baseman, once he catches the ball, needs only to step on second base or tag the runner before the runner gets there in order to get him out. A tag out, or tag play, the second way to get a runner out on a ground ball, involves an unforced runner and is much more difficult to execute. Removing the force A force on a runner is "removed" when the batter or a following runner (in other words, any runner behind him on the basepaths) is put out. This most often happens on fly outs—on such, the batter-runner is out, and the other runner(s) must return to their time-of-pitch base, known as tagging up. It also occasionally happens when a sharply hit ground ball is fielded by the first baseman, who then quickly steps on first base to put out the batter-runner. This removes the requirement that the runner already on first must advance to second base; he cannot be forced out by a defensive player holding the ball while touching second base, and the runner can try to escape from a rundown by returning to first base. For force outs resulting from neighborhood plays, see the highlighted link. Scoring on force outs No run can be scored during the same continuous playing action as a force out for the third out, even if a runner reaches home plate before the third out is recorded. As a result, on a batted ball with two outs, fielders will nearly always ignore a runner trying to score, attempting instead to force out the batter or another runner. For example, suppose there are runners on first and third with one out. The batter hits a ground ball to the second baseman. The second baseman, seeing a forced runner on first heading his way, retrieves the ball and steps on second to get him out on the force out for the second out of the inning. If the runner on third had meanwhile run home and touched home plate, his run would count, if the batter-runner reached first base safely. But suppose the same play happened with two players out. The second baseman, seeing the forced runner on first heading his way, retrieves the ball and