How to Use pickoff in a Sentence
- He made a pickoff throw to third base.
-
Kershaw fired a pickoff throw to first that caught Ohtani off the bag.
—
Beth Harris,
Baltimore Sun,
20 July 2022
-
Giolito, now alert to the threat, tried a pickoff that was too late.
—
Peter Abraham,
BostonGlobe.com,
24 June 2023
-
This wasn’t the first time Báez stole home on a pickoff throw to first this season.
—
Tom Verducci,
SI.com,
9 July 2018
-
Cueto has one of the game’s great pickoff moves, and the news about the step-off rule caught him off guard.
—
John Shea,
San Francisco Chronicle,
11 Mar. 2021
-
How will teams use the pickoff throw strategy and how will teams try to exploit it?
—
Dallas News,
8 Feb. 2023
-
Urías then went to third when Bell let a pickoff throw get past him at first base for an error.
—
Noah Trister,
Star Tribune,
23 July 2021
-
The Giants scored a third as a runner scored from third on a pickoff throw to first.
—
Charlie Goldsmith,
The Enquirer,
18 May 2021
-
Gilbert even flashed his quickness with an inning-ending pickoff move in the fifth.
—
Joshua Thornton,
NOLA.com,
3 Mar. 2018
-
His pickoff throw was wild and Call advanced all the way to third base on the error.
—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
20 May 2026
-
Just things started speeding up and didn’t even see the clock there or even the pickoff at second base.
—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
5 July 2024
-
Lopez advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt and to third on a wild pitch.
—
Bobby Nightengale,
The Enquirer,
2 July 2021
-
Greene pitched just one inning, allowing a hit with a strikeout and a pickoff.
—
C. Trent Rosecrans,
Cincinnati.com,
27 Aug. 2017
-
Aggressive base running on a pickoff bid and wild pitches scored the last two of the frame.
—
Tom Mulherin,
Boston Herald,
23 May 2026
-
Perdomo walked three batters that inning and made a wild pickoff throw to first that sent home the run.
—
Tom Haudricourt,
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
13 May 2021
-
They are allowed to step off or attempt a pickoff throw a third time, but will be charged a balk if no out is recorded.
—
Bob Nightengale,
USA TODAY,
9 Sep. 2022
-
Smith then stole second and got to third when Peacock threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt.
—
Bob Condotta,
The Seattle Times,
13 Apr. 2019
-
Golnick got a pickoff and a key strikeout in the fourth to stop one potential rally.
—
Eric Sondheimer,
latimes.com,
31 May 2018
-
Schlittler had an errant pickoff attempt in the same inning.
—
Chris Kirschner,
New York Times,
26 June 2026
-
Hammel attempted to fire a pickoff move to first base but fumbled the ball in his glove on the exchange.
—
Sam McDowell,
kansascity.com,
8 June 2017
-
Bauers stole second and went to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Glasnow.
—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Lyles' errant throw on a pickoff attempt in the fifth helped the D-backs push to a 3-0 lead.
—
Nick Piecoro,
The Arizona Republic,
23 Sep. 2020
-
Baseball has made progress with rule changes that have sped up the pace of play, including a pitch clock and limits on pickoff moves.
—
Kurt Badenhausen,
Sportico.com,
13 Nov. 2025
-
Luke Edgecomb scored and Salinas went to third on an errant pickoff throw to first.
—
Rick Kretzschmar,
Dallas News,
17 May 2023
-
Justin Dunn erased a leadoff double with an inside pickoff move in the first inning of his last start.
—
The Enquirer,
24 Aug. 2022
-
Made all the worse, that final play by Miami was botched by a mistake that led to the pickoff.
—
Miami Herald,
18 Oct. 2025
-
After reaching base for the third time in the game, Durnin dodged a pickoff attempt and stole second.
—
Jace Denison,
Kansas City Star,
19 May 2026
-
The team does 30 minutes of bunting in each practice, and the pitchers all spend a chunk of time on their pickoff moves.
—
Mike Hutton,
chicagotribune.com,
12 June 2021
-
The pickoff came after back-to-back walks to start the eighth inning and limited the damage in the top half of the frame.
—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
30 May 2026
-
With two outs and runners on first and third, Castillo stepped off the mound and attempted a pickoff at first base.
—
Charlie Goldsmith,
The Enquirer,
15 May 2022
-
Thomas was also sacked four times and was picked off once.
—
The Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Kiel got picked off at first base for the second out of the frame.
—
Tony Catalina,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Marsh walked in the third inning, then was picked off first base.
—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Trey Mancini was picked off first.
—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Moore almost picked off Reed in the end zone in the first half.
—
Pete Sampson,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Hoover was picked off with 44 seconds left to end the game.
—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Schwarber was picked off in that inning.
—
Matt Gelb,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Let the native predators pick off scale, mealy bugs, thrips, etc.
—
Nan Sterman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 July 2022
-
Only five teams in the country have had more passes picked off.
—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Or getting picked off and scored on by a former groomsmen?
—
Charlotte Wilder,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Sounds like Canada is picking off our friends.
—
CBS News,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Instead, the second one was picked off by Horn in the end zone.
—
Joseph Person,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
-
While opponents sacked him twice, Gabriel has yet to get picked off.
—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Hungry birds will pick off many of the caterpillars.
—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
14 Mar. 2026
-
When he was picked off a second time, the Irish had even less ground to cover.
—
Ryan Kartje,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Oct. 2023
-
There’s a whole lot of good, but not great, teams picking off each other week after week.
—
Matt Hayes,
USA TODAY,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Nahshon Wright picks off McCarthy and takes it to the house!
—
Reice Shipley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The winning run was at the plate when Donze picked off a runner at first to end things.
—
Paul Johnson,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
-
In the first, Jarren Duran drew a walk and was picked off.
—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
16 May 2026
-
Lindsey passed for 189 yards and one touchdown but was picked off once.
—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
14 Sep. 2025
-
But he was picked off by Gray, who threw to shortstop Masyn Winn.
—
Warren Mayes,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Aug. 2025
-
When Phoenix got the ball back, Williams picked off a Thomas pass to seal the win.
—
Nathan Canilao,
Mercury News,
10 June 2026
-
Pet hair is a pain to pick off fabrics before washing and to clean from your machines.
—
Carolyn Forte,
Good Housekeeping,
17 Aug. 2021
-
But Taylor tried to steal third, got picked off and was tagged out during a rundown.
—
Lamond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
25 May 2025
-
Arraez, who advanced to second on the throw, was then picked off to end the inning.
—
Justice Delos Santos,
Mercury News,
27 May 2026
-
Raynor was picked off three times in the second quarter, with Moten coming down with two.
—
Michael Harley,
Arkansas Online,
9 Nov. 2025
-
The leadoff runner was wiped away, though, when Jarvis was picked off by the catcher.
—
Nick Alvarez | [email protected],
al,
10 June 2023
-
Matthews, pinch-running for Paredes, was picked off first base to end the inning.
—
Matt Kawahara,
Houston Chronicle,
19 Apr. 2026
-
He was picked off, and now the Bucs have no points to show for what was their third straight impressive drive.
—
Rohan Nadkarni,
NBC News,
22 Oct. 2024
-
An unwell postal worker picked off lover’s-lane couples with a revolver.
—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pickoff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Last Updated:
