smallball

small +‎ ball

smallball (uncountable)

1. (baseball) A style of play that scores a large number of runs, one base at a time.
   • 2009 June 26, Mark Zwolinski, “Blue Jays rally gets wasted”, in Toronto Star‎:

     There was no heroic ending — Toronto's Joey Votto coming up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, and some brilliantly executed smallball saw to that — as the visitors claimed victory to avoid being swept in the three-game series.

2. (figuratively) Any strategy that involves proceeding by small increments.

• Moneyball