passed ball

noun

: a baseball pitch not hit by the batter that passes the catcher when it should have been caught and allows a base runner to advance

one of his trick pitches shot by his catcher for a passed ball

—John Drebinger

compare wild pitch

Examples of passed ball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Pete Alonso forced in a run when was hit on his left thigh by a cutter, and catcher J.T. Realmuto allowed a run-scoring passed ball that put the Mets ahead 6-4. —Ken Maguire, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 June 2024

After San Francisco scored its only run off Ryan on a Smith passed ball in the fourth, Ryan struck out Mike Yastrzemski with a 95-mph cut-fastball with runners on second and third to end the inning. —Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2024

The most consequential miscues, however, came on Turner’s two-base passed ball the following inning. —Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 3 May 2024

Saguaro had the bases loaded in the fourth after a batter reached on a strikeout passed ball. —Richard Obert, The Arizona Republic, 15 May 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for passed ball

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• catarrhal
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol