wild pitch

noun, Baseball.

a pitched ball that the catcher misses and could not be expected to catch, resulting in a base runner's or runners' advancing one or more bases or the batter's reaching first base safely.

Compare passed ball.

Origin

1865-70, Americanism

Examples from the web for wild pitch

Two walks, a wild pitch and a single produced two runs.
He reached there before the bail and took second on a wild pitch.

Idioms and Phrases with wild pitch

wild pitch

A careless statement or action, as in Calling comic books great literature—that's a wild pitch. This term comes from baseball, where it signifies a pitched ball so far off target that the catcher misses it, enabling a base runner to advance. [ Mid-1900s ]