When you do whatever you have to do to win,
short of cheating, but playing
dirty.
This derives from the final fight of "Karate
Kid" where the main character's leg is broken and the evil Sensai instructs his student to "Sweep the leg" out from under him to win.
If the pitcher wants to get past a good hitter in
baseball and throws a fastball at his face, making him
walk, and possibly taking him out for the rest of the game, that is an
example of "Sweep-the-leg"