Running up the score is a sports strategy that occurs when a competitor continues to play in such a way as to score additional points after the outcome of the game is no longer realistically in question and they are all but assured of winning. More sportsmanlike alternatives might include pulling out most of the team's first-string players, or calling plays designed to run out the clock. Mercy rules are used in some amateur sports, which end the game when the score differential reaches a certain point. Running up the score has generally been considered controversial and has been subject to debate between those who support and oppose the use of the strategy.

In sports, garbage time is the period toward the end of a timed sports competition that has become a blowout when the outcome of the game has effectively already been decided, and the coaches of one or both teams will decide to replace their best players with substitutes. This serves to give those substitutes, who are usually less experienced or younger players, actual playing experience, as well as to protect the best players from the possibility of injury.