The crossword solution for the term 'What a shutout lowers, for short' is ERA, which stands for Earned Run Average. ERA is a statistic used in baseball to measure the number of earned runs a pitcher gives up over a nine-inning game. It is calculated by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. A shutout is when a pitcher does not allow any runs to be scored against them, so a shutout lowers the ERA of the pitcher.