How to Use curveball in a Sentence

curveball

noun
  • The batter struck out on a curveball.
  • Gallen’s fastball and curveball are his top two offerings.
    Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 31 May 2022
  • The blister prevented him from throwing his slider or his curveball.
    Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 3 Sep. 2024
  • Kershaw used a 73-mph curveball and an 88-mph slider to get the final two outs of the frame.
    Janis Carr, Orange County Register, 25 July 2024
  • Then, Urías snapped off a late-breaking curveball that began off the inside edge before diving back across the plate.
    Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022
  • The second out came on a force play at the plate before Wagner ended the game with a curveball in the dirt for a swinging strike three.
    Wilson Moore, The Indianapolis Star, 26 May 2022
  • An inning later, Seth Brown pounced on a curveball from Nick Pivetta.
    Matt Kawahara, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 June 2022
  • Michael Harris II pulled Koenig’s final offering, a curveball, just fair down the right-field line.
    Matt Kawahara, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 June 2022
  • Alek Thomas lifted his leg, pumped his hands and unleashed his swing, turning on a hanging curveball in the seventh inning on Tuesday.
    Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 17 May 2022
  • Right-hander Michael Fulmer hit Anthony Rizzo with a two-strike curveball to start the bottom of the eighth.
    Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 5 June 2022
  • The second-year pitcher primarily relied on his fastball, curveball and changeup, also mixing in a handful of sliders.
    Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 18 May 2022
  • Beck’s looping curveball was effective, getting Josh Bell to strike out swinging and Corbin Carroll to go down looking.
    Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2024
  • Wadsworth’s junior center fielder knew Dominic Poltrone could deliver an unforgiving curveball.
    Matt Goul, cleveland, 24 May 2022
  • The one-two pitch on the way: curveball, tapped foul off to the left of the plate.
    Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
  • The first curveball of the sequence was well outside to run the count full.
    Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Nov. 2022
  • More of those curveballs Neville talked about loom on the horizon.
    Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Dec. 2023
  • Urquidy’s first pitch to Trout that day at Minute Maid Park was a curveball.
    Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2022
  • Reyes turned on a 1-and-1 curveball, sending it over the wall in left field.
    Tim Withers, Hartford Courant, 3 July 2022
  • With two on and one out, Mantiply tried to go down and away with a 1-2 curveball.
    Nick Piecoro, The Arizona Republic, 25 June 2022
  • And his curveball/changeup mix might be the best mix of secondary stuff in the system.
    Evan Grant, Dallas News, 14 Mar. 2023
  • With his 98th pitch, a curveball in the dirt, Snell ended the sixth inning with his 10th strikeout of the game.
    Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2024
  • Watching Tebow try to hit Triple A curveballs was more fun than this.
    Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Aug. 2023
  • In the 10th, Ketel Marte struck out looking on a curveball that appeared to miss the bottom of the zone.
    Theo MacKie, The Arizona Republic, 16 May 2023
  • Good thing Davis knows how to handle a curveball or two.
    Sandra Gonzalez, CNN, 24 June 2022
  • Hill is a 6-foot-4 left hander with a fastball in the low 90s, a curveball, a slider and a change up.
    Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 May 2024
  • The right-hander is known for his deadly curveball, which has a spin rate of 3,000-plus rpm.
    John Leuzzi, Journal Sentinel, 11 July 2023
  • That’s a bit of a wrinkle in the progress of this case that was unusual and a little bit of a curveball.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2022
  • With the bases loaded and Nick Castellanos at the plate, Drew Smith (two saves) jammed him with an 0-2 curveball.
    Abbey Mastrocco, Hartford Courant, 9 June 2024
  • Rosario drilled a Framber Valdez curveball over the wall in left center for a 1-0 Guardians lead.
    Joe Noga, cleveland, 5 Aug. 2022
  • Fate didn’t throw a curveball at Justin Hillman when he was born.
    Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 1 Aug. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'curveball.' 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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