How to play

You’re the pitcher. Get the hitter out before he gets you.

The basics

Pick a pitch, tap the strike zone to aim, then press Throw. The pitch lands near your target, but never exactly on it. Breaking balls miss their spot more than fastballs do, and your aim loosens when you’re tired or under pressure.

The red shading on the zone shows where this hitter does damage. Aim away from it.

Game modes

Arcade. Retire batters in a row for points. Strikes score, and longer streaks multiply your points. A hit, a walk or a hit batter costs a life. Normal and Easy start you with three lives, and Hard gives you two.

Full game. Pitch a nine-inning game as the starter. Your stamina drains with every pitch, faster on breaking balls and long at-bats. When you tire, your velocity, command and stuff all slip. Your offense is simulated between innings, so you win by holding the lead.

Pick your pitcher

Before you start, tap Pitcher to choose who takes the mound. Arcade and Full game each have their own five pitchers, and every one has a different mix of four ratings:

Power. Fastball velocity and how hard he is to square up.
Command. How close his pitches land to your target.
Stamina. How many pitches he has in a full game. In Arcade, how well his command holds up on a long streak.
Composure. How much full counts, big moments and a loud crowd rattle him.

Your starter choice doesn’t change the bullpen.

Your pitches

Fastball. Fastest and most accurate. Hitters time it best when they know it’s coming.
Slider. Sharp and late. Good for chasing a swing off the plate.
Changeup. Slower than it looks. It disrupts timing and often becomes a ground ball.
Curveball. The slowest, with the biggest drop and the biggest miss. It can bounce, and a bounce with runners on can become a wild pitch.

Don’t repeat yourself. A hitter who sees the same pitch twice in a row starts to sit on it.

Difficulty

Easy. Your catcher signs a suggested pitch and location, and your aim is tighter.
Normal. The standard game.
Hard. No scouting report, better hitters and looser aim.

Pressure

A full count adds pressure. In a full game, so do bases loaded, two outs and late, close innings. As the crowd gets louder your command gets worse. Easy mode feels pressure less, and Hard feels it more.

The bullpen

In a full game you can go to the bullpen between batters at any time. Each reliever has a strength and a catch, such as raw velocity with shaky control, or pinpoint control with less stuff. A reliever who leaves can’t come back, and the closer is held for the late innings. Pulling a rested starter early gets a warning, because relievers tire fast.

Things that can happen

Hit batter. Throw one up and in and it can hit him. He takes first, and any forced runners move up. In Arcade it counts as a lost life.
Steals. With a runner on first, he may take off. Fastballs help your catcher throw him out; offspeed pitches give him a jump.
Wild pitches. A bounced pitch with runners on can let them move up a base.
Double plays. Keep the ball low with a runner on first and less than two outs, and a ground ball can turn two.
Diving catches. Sometimes a fielder just makes a great play.

Tips

Get ahead early. Falling behind 3-0 means grooving a strike.
With two strikes, expand the zone and let the hitter chase.
Save your stamina: mix in offspeed pitches but don’t overuse them.
Go to the bullpen before you’re empty, not after.

Take the mound