In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a run and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a half-inning, the batting team's turn expires. To signal an out, an umpire generally makes a fist with one hand, and then flexes that arm either upward, particularly on pop flies, or forward, particularly on routine plays at first base. Home plate umpires often use a "punch-out" motion to signal a called strikeout. Ways of making outs The most common ways batters or runners are put out are when: The batter strikes out (they make three batting mistakes, known as strikes, without hitting the ball into fair territory); The batter flies out (they hit the ball and it is caught before landing); a baserunner is tagged out (they are touched by the ball, held in an opponent's hand, while not on a base); a baserunner is forced out (an opponent with the ball reaches the base the runner is forced to advance to before the runner does). The batter is out when: Strikeout-related outs: with two strikes, the batter swings at a pitched ball and misses; with two strikes, they do not swing at a pitch that the umpire judges to be in the strike zone (and the catcher catches the ball and does not drop it); with two strikes, the batter foul tips a pitch directly back into the catcher's mitt, and the catcher holds the ball and does not drop it; with two strikes, they bunt a pitch into foul territory; the third strike is pitched and caught in flight; on any third strike, if a baserunner is on first and there are fewer than two outs (even when not caught); Outs related to the batter's box: they are hit by their own fair ball, outside the batter's box, before the ball is played by a fielder; they hit a pitch while one foot is entirely outside the batter's box; they step from one batter's box to the other when the pitcher is ready to pitch; Other ways of being out: they commit interference; they fail to bat in their proper turn and is discovered in an appeal; or they are found to have used an altered bat. Ways that runners