How to Use breaking ball in a Sentence
breaking ball
noun-
The breaking ball, the curveball were up in the zone a lot.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2023
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The last one that tied the game was a hanging breaking ball.
—Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 6 May 2023
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Dany made one bad pitch, a 3-2 breaking ball, and we got beat on it.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 13 Apr. 2024
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The home run came at the wrong spot, a first pitch breaking ball and the hitter put a good swing on it.
—Journal Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2023
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With or without the breaking ball, the Yankees are counting on Hill to keep up the good work.
—Gary Phillips, Hartford Courant, 12 Aug. 2024
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The fastball command, both sides of the plate, hits the low dart, the split down below that, stealing the strike with the breaking ball.
—Jim Alexander, Orange County Register, 11 Sep. 2024
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The breaking ball was a really good pitch for him tonight.
—Justice Delos Santos, The Mercury News, 24 May 2024
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The right breaking ball can turn a fringe prospect into a big leaguer.
—Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023
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With his main weapons doing the job, Weaver hasn’t needed a breaking ball.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 16 May 2024
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Pivetta tried to snap off a 1-2 breaking ball to Will Brennan that hit the Guardians’ right fielder.
—Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Apr. 2023
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Keep an eye on righty Landen Roupp, whose breaking ball is major league ready.
—Tony Blengino, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023
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But unlike their battle the previous night, this breaking ball was not off the plate, but rather knee high and over the inner half.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2024
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His fastball hovered in the low 90s, and his breaking ball kept Indians on their toes.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 May 2024
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Patrick Bailey followed with a walk, and J.D. Davis cleared the bases with his second home run of the spring, sending a 2-2 breaking ball onto the berm in left field.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2024
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His breaking ball comes in at 78-82 mph, but that’s not always a solace to batters on the receiving end.
—Daniel Brown, The Athletic, 29 Aug. 2024
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After adjusting the grip on his slider a few weeks ago, Gil has thrown his breaking ball more than his high-90s heater in three straight starts.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2024
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The breaking ball got a little better and the location got a little bit better.
—Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 8 Sep. 2024
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Neither has thrown a plus breaking ball so far, but both have been excellent pitchers at their best.
—Eno Sarris, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025
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In the 10th, García jumped on a first pitch breaking ball from reliever Michael King and hammered it into the left field seats with Lowe on second.
—Evan Grant, Dallas News, 24 June 2023
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The senior mixes in a sharp breaking ball and his ability to throw it for strikes kept Fishers off balance all game.
—Akeem Glaspie, The Indianapolis Star, 25 May 2023
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The next batter, Manny Machado, launched a breaking ball into the left-field seats, extending the Padres’ first-inning lead to 3-0.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2024
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Facing a two-strike count, Pham slammed a hanging breaking ball from Nola over the left field fence to lead off the second inning with a solo home run.
—Scott Thompson, Fox News, 24 Oct. 2023
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Kelly sailed one fastball over Alex Bregman’s head and backed Yuli Gurriel off the plate with an inside breaking ball.
—Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2023
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Of guys still on staff, Josh Sborz, thanks to a sometimes devastating breaking ball, had the second-highest at 15.5%.
—Dallas News, 22 Feb. 2023
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The sweeper never looks like a fastball, but baits the hitter by seeming like a hittable breaking ball before darting away from the bat.
—Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023
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With two outs and a runner on second, Torkelson drilled a breaking ball from right-hander Drew Rasmussen into left field.
—Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 13 Mar. 2023
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Typically, that count against a right-handed hitter would call for a breaking ball.
—The Arizona Republic, 29 Aug. 2023
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Rodríguez generated seven whiffs with his breaking ball, the most he’s had in a single game in his young career.
—Justice Delos Santos, The Mercury News, 25 June 2024
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After riding the pine for most of the game, the player must quickly get loose and face a relief pitcher, who is often throwing upwards of 100 mph with a nasty breaking ball.
—Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 7 Sep. 2023
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But Brandon Nimmo blasted a breaking ball for a home run and Daniel Vogelbach clubbed a fastball for another in the next two innings.
—Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 22 July 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'breaking ball.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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