Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The Chicago White Sox win again. They beat the Houston Astros 7 to 3 on Wednesday. They win the series two games to none.
The White Sox score four runs in the first inning. Later, Chase Meidroth hits a home run with two players on base. That is a three run homer.
This is a big day for Chicago. The team has not won a playoff series since 2005. That year, the White Sox won the World Series. Now they play Cleveland next.
There is more baseball news. The Phillies beat the Braves 4 to 3 in ten innings. Their series is tied, one game each.
- playoff
- A game or series after the season to find the champion.
- series
- A group of games between two teams.
- inning
- One part of a baseball game.
- run
- A point in baseball.
- home run
- A hit that goes over the fence.
- sweep
- To win every game in a series.
- tied
- Having the same score or record.
- champion
- The winner of the biggest prize.
Level 2 — Elementary
The Chicago White Sox have won their first playoff series since the 2005 World Series. On Wednesday they beat the Houston Astros 7 to 3 and finished a two game sweep in the American League Wild Card Series.
Chicago scored four runs in the first inning and three more in the sixth. Chase Meidroth hit a three run homer that made the game safe, and Kyle Teel also helped the team.
The win has a special feeling for fans. In 2005, the White Sox beat the Astros in the World Series. Now, 21 years later, they have beaten Houston again to win a playoff round. Next, they face Cleveland, the champion of their division, in the Division Series.
In the National League, the Phillies stayed alive. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper hit back to back home runs in the eighth inning, and Alec Bohm hit the winning homer in the tenth. Philadelphia won 4 to 3 and tied the series with Atlanta at one game each.
- playoff
- A set of games played after the regular season.
- sweep
- A series win in which one team wins all the games.
- division
- A smaller group of teams within a league.
- round
- One stage of a competition.
- back to back
- One right after the other.
- go-ahead
- Putting a team in front.
- stayed alive
- Did not lose the chance to continue.
- fans
- People who love a team or a sport.
Level 3 — Intermediate
The Chicago White Sox completed a two game sweep of the Houston Astros on Wednesday with a 7 to 3 victory, winning their first postseason series since they defeated the same Astros in the 2005 World Series. The win sends them into the American League Division Series against Cleveland, the AL Central champion.
Chicago did its damage early and late. It scored four times in the first inning and added three more in the sixth, when Chase Meidroth's three run homer put the game out of reach. Kyle Teel also contributed, according to game reports, as the White Sox won consecutive home games to close the series.
The symmetry was hard to miss. Twenty one years ago, Chicago beat Houston to win the franchise's first championship since 1917. Since then, the team has gone through a long stretch of rebuilding, so a series win over the Astros felt like a turning point for a club that had little to cheer about recently.
Elsewhere, the National League series between Philadelphia and Atlanta is level. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper hit back to back homers in the eighth inning to erase a deficit, and Alec Bohm's homer in the tenth gave the Phillies a 4 to 3 win, with Andrew Painter striking out the final batter. A deciding game follows.
- postseason
- The games played after the regular season ends.
- symmetry
- A pleasing match between two things.
- rebuilding
- Making a team stronger again over time.
- deficit
- The amount by which a team is behind.
- level
- Having the same score or record.
- consecutive
- Following one after another without a break.
- turning point
- A moment when things start to change.
- franchise
- A sports team that is part of a league.
Level 4 — Advanced
The Chicago White Sox dispatched the Houston Astros 7 to 3 on Wednesday to complete a two game sweep of the American League Wild Card Series, their first postseason series victory since they toppled the same opponent in the 2005 World Series. They advance to face Cleveland, the AL Central champion, in the Division Series.
Chicago seized control with a four run first inning and sealed it in the sixth, when Chase Meidroth's three run homer turned a comfortable lead into a decisive one. Kyle Teel also played a prominent part in a performance that sent supporters into raptures after a long wait.
The resonance with 2005 was inescapable. That autumn, the White Sox ended an 88 year championship drought by beating Houston. In the intervening two decades, the franchise endured extended stretches of mediocrity and rebuilding, which lent this series a vindicating quality for supporters who had waited a generation for a single October victory.
In the National League, Philadelphia kept its season alive with a 4 to 3 victory over Atlanta in ten innings. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper struck consecutive home runs in the eighth to wipe out a deficit, Alec Bohm delivered the go ahead blow in the tenth, and Andrew Painter retired the side to preserve the win, leaving the series level at one game apiece.
- dispatched
- Defeated quickly and decisively.
- toppled
- Beat or overthrew.
- decisive
- Settling the result of something.
- raptures
- Feelings of intense joy.
- resonance
- A strong echo or connection with the past.
- drought
- A long period without success.
- mediocrity
- The state of being only average.
- vindicating
- Proving that someone was right all along.
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