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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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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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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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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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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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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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
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Valdez was excellent, but the fact that Josh Bell was traded right before game time -- just beating the 6 p.m. deadline -- played a part in that no-no just as much as Valdez’s unhittable breaking ball did.
—Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 2 Aug. 2023
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His breaking ball was effective, with the Diamondbacks putting only one of his 26 slurves into play.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2023
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His devastating breaking ball has led to strikeouts all season, but Gorman crushed a slider that landed outside of the strike zone and pulled it down the right field line to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
—Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, 25 May 2023
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Think of it as a pitcher who throws primarily off-speed pitches with a sharp breaking ball rather than overpowering a batter with fastballs.
—Peter Rauterkus, Dallas News, 12 July 2023
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Well, breaking ball artists are more susceptible to injury and performance breakdowns over time.
—Tony Blengino, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023
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Pivetta has replaced his traditional curve with a harder breaking ball.
—Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2023
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Enlow surrendered a pair of hits to Ohtani but allowed only two other base runners over his three innings, even coaxing an empty two-strike swing from Freddie Freeman on a sharp breaking ball for his second strikeout.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024
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All year, his sinker and changeup have been outstanding pitches, but he’s lacked a consistent breaking ball as a complement, his slider often representing a vulnerability.
—Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Sep. 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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