Level 1 - Absolute Beginner
The Rays and the Yankees played a big baseball game on Wednesday. It was Game 3 of a series.
The Rays were ahead in the series two games to none. They played in New York.
A Yankees player, Anthony Volpe, hit a ball far. It looked like a home run. But a fan touched the ball.
The umpires said it was a double, not a home run. The Rays were ahead 4 to 3 late in the game.
- baseball
- A sport with a bat and a ball.
- series
- A set of games between two teams.
- home run
- A hit that lets a player run all the way around.
- fan
- A person who loves a team.
- umpire
- The person who makes the rules clear in a game.
- double
- A hit that lets a player reach second base.
- ahead
- In front, with more points.
- late
- Near the end.
Level 2 - Elementary
The Tampa Bay Rays were close to a sweep of the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. They had won Game 1 by 1 to 0 on October 3 and Game 2 by 5 to 2 on October 5.
In Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, Victor Mesa hit a two run home run off Max Fried in the sixth inning. It put the Rays ahead.
Then came the big moment. Anthony Volpe hit a ball that looked like a two run home run to tie the game. But a fan reached over the wall and touched the ball. The umpires used video replay and ruled it fan interference.
Volpe was given a double and one run scored. Rays manager Kevin Cash said the play should have been an out, but the ruling stayed. In the seventh inning, the Rays led 4 to 3.
- sweep
- To win every game in a series.
- division series
- A round of the baseball playoffs.
- inning
- One part of a baseball game.
- replay
- A video check of a play.
- interference
- When someone gets in the way of a play.
- manager
- The person who leads a team.
- ruling
- An official decision.
- tie
- To make the score equal.
Level 3 - Intermediate
The Rays arrived at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday with a two games to none lead in the American League Division Series, having won 1 to 0 on October 3 and 5 to 2 on October 5, when four Yankees errors helped chase Cam Schlittler.
Max Fried started for New York against Nick Martinez. In the top of the sixth inning, Victor Mesa hit a go ahead two run homer off Fried, giving Tampa Bay a 4 to 2 lead.
The Yankees answered in the bottom half, or thought they did. Anthony Volpe drove a ball toward the right field wall that appeared to tie the game with a two run homer. A fan reached over the wall, and after a video review the umpires ruled fan interference, awarding Volpe a run scoring double instead and leaving the score at 4 to 3.
Rays manager Kevin Cash argued that the play should have been turned into an out, but the ruling was upheld. The latest reports I could confirm had the Rays still leading by a run in the seventh inning, one win from a sweep, with the final result still to be confirmed.
- go ahead
- Putting a team in the lead.
- error
- A mistake by a fielder that helps the other team.
- homer
- A home run.
- review
- A careful check of a decision.
- awarding
- Giving as a prize or decision.
- upheld
- Kept in place after a challenge.
- cleared
- Went over, as a ball over a wall.
- sweep
- Winning every game in a series.
Level 4 - Advanced
Baseball postseasons are decided by margins no larger than a glove, and on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium the margin was a fan's hand. With the Rays two games to none up in the American League Division Series, having won 1 to 0 on October 3 and 5 to 2 on October 5 after four Yankees errors chased Cam Schlittler, New York needed something in Game 3.
It looked as though it had arrived. Victor Mesa had hit a go ahead two run homer off Max Fried in the sixth, making it 4 to 2 Tampa Bay, and Anthony Volpe answered with a drive toward the right field wall that appeared to tie the game. A spectator reached over the barrier, replay officials concluded that he had interfered, and Volpe was awarded a run scoring double in place of the homer. The score stood at 4 to 3.
Rays manager Kevin Cash argued for the stronger penalty of an out, but the call was sustained. Fan interference rulings are inherently counterfactual: umpires must decide what would have happened if no one had touched the ball.
The last reports available as this article was prepared had the Rays still ahead by a run in the seventh inning, one win from a sweep, with the final result left for readers to confirm. Whatever it was, the Volpe ruling will be argued about for a long time in the Bronx.
- margins
- Small differences that decide a result.
- spectator
- A person who watches an event.
- barrier
- A wall or fence that blocks passage.
- sustained
- Upheld or kept in force.
- inherently
- By its very nature.
- counterfactual
- Concerning what would have happened if things had been different.
- penalty
- A punishment or disadvantage.
- postseason
- The playoffs after the regular season.
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