Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
Two baseball teams play a big game. The Tampa Bay Rays win three games in a row. They beat the New York Yankees.
The last game is 4 to 3. Victor Mesa Jr. hits a home run. A home run is a big hit. It gives the Rays the lead.
Now the Rays go to the next round. It is their first time there since 2020. The Yankees go home.
In another series, the Cleveland Guardians win 9 to 5. They play the Chicago White Sox. The next game decides the winner.
- baseball
- A game with a bat and a ball.
- team
- A group of players.
- home run
- A hit so long that the batter can run around all the bases.
- lead
- Being ahead of the other team.
- round
- One part of a long contest.
- series
- A set of games between two teams.
- decide
- To choose the winner.
- beat
- To win against someone.
Level 2 - Elementary
The Tampa Bay Rays swept the New York Yankees 3-0 in the American League Division Series. They won Game 3 by 4-3 on Wednesday, October 7, at Yankee Stadium.
Victor Mesa Jr. hit a two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning. Anthony Volpe seemed to hit a two-run homer for the Yankees, but a fan reached over the wall. The umpires gave the Yankees only one run.
The win sends the Rays to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2020.
On Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 in Chicago. The series is tied at two games each. Game 5 is on Saturday in Cleveland, and the winner will play the Rays.
- swept
- Won every game in a series.
- inning
- One part of a baseball game.
- umpires
- The officials who make decisions in a game.
- tied
- Having the same score.
- championship
- A contest to find the best team.
- seemed
- Looked as if.
- wall
- A tall side of a field.
- decisive
- Deciding the result.
Level 3 - Intermediate
The Tampa Bay Rays completed a sweep of the New York Yankees on Wednesday with a 4-3 win in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, ending the Yankees' season and sending Tampa Bay to the Championship Series for the first time since 2020.
Victor Mesa Jr. delivered the decisive blow, a two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth inning. New York answered immediately when Anthony Volpe appeared to clear the left-field wall with a two-run shot, but clear spectator interference downgraded it to a double. Officials awarded one run, reasoning that Mesa would not have caught the ball anyway, and the Rays held on. Ian Seymour earned the win and Bryan Baker closed the game for his third save of the series.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians came from behind repeatedly to beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Thursday. Cleveland scored six runs in the sixth inning, with Jose Ramirez's two-run homer off Jordan Hicks flipping the game, and pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey also went deep. Both managers used 15 pitchers over nine innings.
The series is tied at 2-2 and a decisive Game 5 will be played in Cleveland on Saturday night. It follows a Game 3 in which Guardians pitchers set a postseason record with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. The winner will face the Rays.
- sweep
- A series victory in which one team wins every game.
- decisive
- Deciding the final result.
- spectator
- A person who watches a game.
- interference
- Getting in the way of something.
- downgraded
- Changed to something less important.
- pinch-hitter
- A player who bats in place of another.
- postseason
- The games played after the regular season.
- strikeouts
- Outs made when a batter fails to hit three strikes.
Level 4 - Advanced
The Tampa Bay Rays dispatched the New York Yankees in a three-game sweep on Wednesday, winning Game 3 of the American League Division Series 4-3 at Yankee Stadium and booking their first Championship Series appearance since their 2020 pennant run. For New York, whose season ended on a night of lingering controversy, the elimination was abrupt and stinging.
Victor Mesa Jr. made the difference with a two-run homer off Max Fried in the sixth. The Yankees replied at once, or so it seemed: Anthony Volpe lofted a drive toward the left-field wall that a spectator clearly interfered with. Officials downgraded it to a double and awarded a single run, concluding that Mesa would not have made the catch regardless, and Tampa Bay's bullpen did the rest, with Ian Seymour getting the win and Bryan Baker securing a third save of the series.
Elsewhere, the Cleveland Guardians staged another comeback on Thursday, overcoming the Chicago White Sox 9-5. A six-run sixth, fuelled by Jose Ramirez's two-run homer off Jordan Hicks and singles from Chase DeLauter and Jo Adell, erased a one-run deficit, while pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey added a homer. Fifteen pitchers were used in a bullpen-heavy marathon, and Guardians manager Steven Vogt called on probable Game 5 starter Gavin Williams to record the last three outs.
The series is deadlocked at two games apiece, and Saturday's finale in Cleveland carries the added prize of a date with the Rays. Cleveland arrives with momentum: its pitchers set a postseason record with 19 strikeouts in a nine-inning game in Game 3.
- dispatched
- Dealt with or defeated quickly.
- pennant
- A championship in baseball; also a flag awarded to the winner.
- abrupt
- Sudden and unexpected.
- lingering
- Continuing for a long time.
- bullpen
- The group of relief pitchers in baseball.
- deficit
- The amount by which a team is behind.
- deadlocked
- Unable to move forward because the sides are equal.
- momentum
- The strength or speed gained from recent success.
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