Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The Atlanta Braves won a big baseball game on Thursday night. The score was 6 to 2.
They played the Philadelphia Phillies. The winner of the game went on to the next round.
Michael Harris II hit a home run in the first inning. It scored three runs.
Next, the Braves play the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
- baseball
- A game with a bat and a ball.
- inning
- One part of a baseball game.
- home run
- A hit that goes over the fence.
- score
- The number of points a team has.
- run
- A point in baseball.
- round
- One step in a contest.
- win
- To finish first.
- season
- The months when a sport is played.
Level 2 — Elementary
The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6 to 2 on Thursday night. The win came in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, and it ended the Phillies' season.
Michael Harris II hit a three run home run in the first inning. Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson also hit home runs. The Braves hit three home runs in the game.
The series was tied before the last game. The Braves won Game 1, 5 to 3. The Phillies won Game 2, 4 to 3, in extra innings.
The Braves now play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the next round. Game 1 is on Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
- Wild Card
- A way for a team to reach the playoffs without winning its division.
- series
- A group of games between two teams.
- extra innings
- More innings played when the score is tied.
- tied
- With the same score.
- ended
- Finished.
- round
- One step in the playoffs.
- playoffs
- Games after the season to find the champion.
- stadium
- A big place for sports.
Level 3 — Intermediate
The Atlanta Braves eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6 to 2 victory in the deciding Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on Thursday night.
Michael Harris II set the tone with a three run homer in the first inning, and Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson added home runs of their own as Atlanta hit three in all. The Braves had taken Game 1, 5 to 3, before the Phillies answered with a 4 to 3 win in 10 innings to force the decider.
The result ends Philadelphia's season and sends Atlanta to the National League Division Series against the Dodgers, which opens Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
It was a busy week of baseball. The Yankees swept the Red Sox, the White Sox swept the Astros for their first playoff series win since 2005, and the Padres swept the Cubs. San Diego will face the Milwaukee Brewers.
- eliminate
- To knock a team out of a competition.
- deciding game
- A game that settles who advances.
- set the tone
- To start in a way that shapes what follows.
- force
- To make something happen.
- sweep
- To win every game in a series.
- National League
- One of the two major baseball leagues in the US.
- Division Series
- The second round of the baseball playoffs.
- advance
- To move to the next round.
Level 4 — Advanced
The Atlanta Braves needed only one swing to settle the mood of a winner-take-all night. Michael Harris II's three run homer in the first inning at Truist Park gave Atlanta a cushion it never surrendered, and a 6 to 2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday ended the Wild Card Series and the Phillies' season.
Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson each added a home run, giving the Braves three long balls in the decider. The series had been a study in momentum swings: Atlanta took Game 1, 5 to 3, Philadelphia rallied for a 4 to 3 win in 10 innings in Game 2, and then the Braves' lineup made sure there would be no third comeback.
The Braves now travel to Los Angeles for a National League Division Series against the Dodgers, opening Saturday at Dodger Stadium. It is a daunting assignment, but Atlanta arrives with its power bats awake.
Elsewhere, the first round delivered a rare run of sweeps. The Yankees outscored the Red Sox 18 to 2 across two games, the White Sox beat the Astros to claim their first postseason series since 2005, and the Padres dispatched the Cubs, setting up a meeting with the Milwaukee Brewers.
- winner-take-all
- Decided by one game, with the loser going home.
- cushion
- A comfortable lead.
- surrender
- To give up.
- momentum
- The sense that a team's success is building.
- lineup
- The batters in the order they will hit.
- daunting
- Seeming difficult and a little frightening.
- postseason
- The games played after the regular season.
- dispatch
- To defeat quickly and easily.
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