Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
It is playoff time in baseball. Two big games were played on Sunday, October 4.
The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3 to 2. Michael Harris II had three hits. Now each team has one win.
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 4 to 3. Jackson Chourio hit a grand slam late in the game.
The Brewers lead their series 2 to 0.
- playoff
- Games after the season to find the best team.
- series
- A group of games between two teams.
- hit
- When a player hits the ball and runs.
- grand slam
- A home run with three players on base.
- lead
- Be ahead.
- beat
- Win against.
- team
- A group that plays together.
- score
- The number of points.
Level 2 — Elementary
Michael Harris II tripled and scored the go ahead run in the fifth inning as the Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3 to 2 in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. The series is now tied at one game each.
The go ahead run came on a wild pitch by Dodgers reliever Kris Bubic. Harris finished 3 for 5 with a double and a triple.
The Braves used a bullpen game because their ace, Chris Sale, was not available. Ray Kerr, Grant Holmes, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and Didier Fuentes pitched the nine innings.
In the other series, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres 4 to 3 on a late grand slam by Jackson Chourio. Milwaukee now leads 2 to 0.
- triple
- A hit where the runner reaches third base.
- inning
- One part of a baseball game.
- wild pitch
- A throw so bad the catcher cannot stop it.
- reliever
- A pitcher who comes in after the starter.
- bullpen
- The group of pitchers who help later in a game.
- tied
- With the same score.
- division series
- An early round of the baseball playoffs.
- go ahead run
- The run that puts a team in front.
Level 3 — Intermediate
Michael Harris II tripled and scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch by reliever Kris Bubic in the fifth inning, and the Atlanta Braves edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 3 to 2 on Sunday to level the National League Division Series at one game apiece.
Harris went 3 for 5 with a double and a triple and drove in a run. Atlanta managed it without Chris Sale, covering all nine innings with Ray Kerr, Grant Holmes, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and Didier Fuentes, a bullpen game that held a powerful Los Angeles lineup to two runs.
Milwaukee took a firmer grip on its series. Jackson Chourio's late grand slam lifted the Brewers past the San Diego Padres 4 to 3, giving them a 2 to 0 lead and putting Milwaukee one win from the next round.
The results leave the Dodgers facing a series that suddenly feels open, and they show how much a deep bullpen can matter in October.
- level
- Make the score or series equal.
- lineup
- The players who bat in a set order.
- apiece
- Each.
- drove in
- Caused a teammate to score.
- grip
- Control over a situation.
- dominate
- Be the strongest or most important.
- open
- Not yet decided.
- regular season
- The long part of the year before the playoffs.
Level 4 — Advanced
Michael Harris II tripled, scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch by Dodgers reliever Kris Bubic in the fifth inning and finished 3 for 5 with a double as the Atlanta Braves survived a bullpen game to beat Los Angeles 3 to 2, squaring the National League Division Series at a game apiece.
What made the win remarkable was how it was assembled. Without Chris Sale, Atlanta strung together nine innings from Ray Kerr, Grant Holmes, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and Didier Fuentes against a lineup built to punish exactly that kind of patchwork, and the arms held the Dodgers to two runs.
Elsewhere in the bracket, Milwaukee seized command. Jackson Chourio's late grand slam turned a tight contest into a 4 to 3 victory over San Diego, handing the Brewers a 2 to 0 lead and the kind of cushion that changes how a short series is managed.
Postseason baseball tends to reward depth over reputation. The Braves' triumph with a staff of relievers, and the Brewers' reliance on a single swing, remind observers that October rarely follows the script written in April.
- square
- Make equal, as in a score.
- assembled
- Put together from different parts.
- patchwork
- Something made of many different parts.
- seized command
- Took control quickly.
- cushion
- A comfortable margin that gives protection.
- postseason
- The playoffs after the regular season.
- depth
- Having many good players available.
- triumph
- A great victory.
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