提前结束比赛（英语：called game）是棒球或垒球比赛中，根据某种理由裁判可以命令比赛提前结束。

在比赛中因为天灾（下雨、下雪、浓雾或其他天候灾害）或者球场上的一些事件、日落（没有照明设备的球场）造成比赛难以继续进行的场合，又或根据比赛规定两队比数差达到了一定的分数等等，判定比赛不能继续进行，裁判就能命令比赛结束。宣告比赛结束的权限只有裁判拥有，然而实际上裁判不会独断的判定比赛提前结束，通常是裁判们和比赛营运的相关人员讨论后所做的决定。

在棒球中，如果在比赛进行中的某局还没达到三个出局数，比赛即提前结束，计分板上会和再见安打比赛同样附有「x」的记号。

A mercy rule—also known by the terms slaughter rule, knockout rule and skunk rule—brings a sports event to an early end when one team has a very large and presumably insurmountable lead over the other team. It is called the merciful rule because it spares the losing team the humiliation of suffering a more formal loss, and denies the winning team the satisfaction thereof, and prevents running up the score, a generally discouraged practice in which the opponent continues to score beyond the point when the game has become out of hand. The mercy rule is most common in North America and primarily in North American sports such as baseball or softball, where there is no game clock and play could theoretically continue forever, although it is also used in sports such as ice hockey and American football. It is very rare in competitive sports beyond the high school level.