Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
The Cleveland Guardians won a big baseball game on Saturday night. They beat the Chicago White Sox 2 to 0.
This was Game 5, the last game of the series. The winner went on to the next round. The Guardians won the series 3 games to 2.
The Guardians started the series badly. They lost the first two games. Then they won three games in a row.
Their pitchers struck out 21 batters. This is a record. Next, the Guardians play the Tampa Bay Rays.
- baseball
- A game where players hit a ball with a bat.
- series
- A group of games between two teams.
- pitcher
- The player who throws the ball.
- strike out
- To get a batter out with three misses.
- record
- The best result ever.
- round
- One step in a big contest.
- batter
- The player who tries to hit the ball.
- win
- To finish first.
Level 2 - Elementary
The Cleveland Guardians completed a big comeback on Saturday night. They beat the Chicago White Sox 2 to 0 in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. The Guardians won the series three games to two after losing the first two games.
Starting pitcher Gavin Williams was the hero. He pitched 5 and two thirds innings and allowed only one hit and no runs. He struck out 12 batters. Closer Cade Smith then struck out the side to finish the game.
The only runs came from José Ramírez, the Guardians' star. He hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning. Cleveland's pitchers struck out 21 White Sox batters in all. That is the most in any nine-inning game in major league history, according to ESPN Research.
The Guardians now fly to St. Petersburg, Florida, to play the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series. Game 1 is on Monday night. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers are playing in the National League series.
- comeback
- A win after being far behind.
- inning
- One part of a baseball game.
- closer
- A pitcher who finishes close games.
- home run
- A hit that goes over the fence.
- starting pitcher
- The first pitcher to throw in a game.
- hero
- A person who does something great.
- division series
- The first round of the baseball playoffs.
- allow
- To let something happen.
Level 3 - Intermediate
The Cleveland Guardians finished off one of the more remarkable comebacks in recent postseason history on Saturday night, beating the Chicago White Sox 2 to 0 in the decisive Game 5 of the American League Division Series. Having lost the first two games, Cleveland won three in a row to take the series 3 to 2 and earn a date with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series.
The game turned on pitching. Right-hander Gavin Williams held Chicago to a single hit across 5 and two thirds scoreless innings, with 12 strikeouts and one walk on 94 pitches, and closer Cade Smith recorded a five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth. In all, Cleveland pitchers fanned 21 batters, which ESPN Research said was the most in a winner-take-all postseason game and a record for any nine-inning game, regular season or playoffs.
Offense was scarce, and it came from one swing. José Ramírez, the franchise's longtime star, hit a two-run home run to right field in the fourth inning, and it proved to be the only scoring of the night at Progressive Field. Chicago, which had seemed in control after winning the first two games, was left to reflect on a lineup that struck out far too often when it mattered.
Cleveland now travels to St. Petersburg for Game 1 on Monday. The Rays have been waiting since last week, which gives them rest but possibly rust. In the National League, the Dodgers and Brewers are meeting in a championship series of their own, setting up a postseason that has so far punished teams that treat a lead as safe.
- decisive
- Deciding the result of something.
- postseason
- The games played after the regular season to find a champion.
- scoreless
- Without any points.
- save
- A credit for a pitcher who protects a small lead at the end of a game.
- fan
- To strike out a batter.
- scarce
- Hard to find; in short supply.
- franchise
- A professional sports team as an organization.
- winner-take-all
- Decided by one game, with the loser going home.
Level 4 - Advanced
Cleveland's pitchers made history on Saturday night, striking out 21 White Sox batters in a 2 to 0 victory that completed the Guardians' comeback from an 0 to 2 deficit in the American League Division Series. ESPN Research reported that the total was the most ever in a winner-take-all postseason game and a record for any nine-inning game, regular season or playoffs, surpassing the 20 Detroit managed in last year's deciding game.
The architect was Gavin Williams, who allowed one hit and no runs across 5 and two thirds innings, walked one, hit one, and struck out 12 on 94 pitches before handing a precarious lead to Cade Smith. Smith, summoned for a five-out save, struck out the side in the ninth to finish what Williams started, and the bullpen's performance made Chicago's offense look helpless.
The scoreboard owed everything to José Ramírez. Ramírez found a pitch in the fourth inning and drove it over the right-field wall for a two-run home run that supplied every run Cleveland would need. It was the sort of swing that has defined his career in northeast Ohio, and it arrived when the Guardians' season was one defeat from over.
The achievement carries a caveat familiar to anyone who studies short series: baseball's playoffs reward teams that are hot more than teams that are best, and a record strikeout total can mask a lineup that scored just twice. Cleveland will have to find more offense in St. Petersburg, where the rested Tampa Bay Rays await in Monday's opener of the American League Championship Series.
- deficit
- A shortfall; the amount by which a team is behind.
- surpass
- To exceed or go beyond.
- precarious
- Not secure; likely to be lost.
- bullpen
- The group of relief pitchers on a baseball team.
- summon
- To call someone to come and help.
- caveat
- A warning or qualification.
- architect
- The person mainly responsible for creating a plan or result.
- mask
- To hide or disguise.
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