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Line Drive for Extra Bases

The batter hits a sharp line drive that finds a hole in the defense, and now the batter and outfielders are off and running! A lot of the time, you'll hear about this type of hit being hit "into the gap," which refers to the space between the center fielder, and the left/right fielder. A ball that finds one of these gaps and goes all the way to the outfield wall will almost certainly lead to extra bases. Alternatively, the ball could go down the first- or third-base foul lines, into the corner. Those… don’t get special names.

The batter is almost certainly going to wind up on second base, unless something weird¹ happens. This is known as a "double". Under the right circumstances— speedy runner, ball hit to just the right place, etc.— the batter might run straight on to third; if they make it, they get a "triple"². Very very rarely, the batter will put the ball in just the right spot that they can attempt to run all the way around the bases for a potential inside-the-park home run. For all of these cases, the defense will have a chance to punish the runner for their hubris, which can lead to a play at one of the bases— or at home.

Meanwhile, what about the runners on base? A runner on third is scoring going to score just about³ 100% of the time. A runner on second base also stands a really good chance of scoring, though if they’re particularly slow, they might draw a throw to the plate, and thus might hold at third. A runner on first base? Much more of an open question. Depending on their speed/where the ball is hit/the strength of the defense, a runner from first can sometimes make it all the way around the bases and score without a throw⁴. But if the defense thinks they can nail that runner at home, a throw to the plate will ensue. Otherwise, the inning will continue.