Sept. 6
1905 — Frank Smith of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers in a 15-0 victory in the second game of a doubleheader. The score is the most lopsided margin of victory for a no-hitter in AL history.
1912 — Smokey Joe Wood of the Red Sox, on his way to a 34-win season, beat Washington’s Walter Johnson 1-0 at Boston. The victory was Wood’s 14th consecutive, two shy of Johnson’s AL record of 16 straight.
1924 — Urban Shocker of the St. Louis Browns pitched two complete games against the Chicago White Sox and won both, 6-2.
1943 — At 16 years, eight months and five days, Philadelphia A’s pitcher Carl Scheib became the youngest player to appear in an American League game.
1976 — Los Angeles catcher Steve Yeager was seriously injured when the jagged end of a broken bat struck him in the throat while he was waiting in the on-deck circle.
1981 — Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 to tie a National League record of seven shutouts by a rookie pitcher.
1995 — Cal Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive major league game to surpass Lou Gehrig’s 56-year record. Ripken received a 22-minute standing ovation and went 2-for-4, including a homer, in Baltimore’s 4-2 win over California.
1996 — Eddie Murray hit his 500th home run, joining Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Willie Mays with at least 3,000 hits and 500 homers. Murray homered off Felipe Lira in the seventh inning of the Baltimore Orioles’ 5-4, 12-inning loss to Detroit.
2000 — Scott Sheldon of the Texas Rangers became the third player to play all nine positions in one game when he did it in a 13-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Sheldon joined Bert Campaneris (Sept. 8, 1965) and Cesar Tovar (Sept. 22, 1968) as true utility players.
2002 — The Oakland Athletics’ 20-game winning streak was snapped as Brad Radke pitched the Minnesota Twins to a 6-0 victory at the Metrodome.
2006 — Anibal Sanchez, a 22-year-old rookie, threw a no-hitter in his 13th career start to end the longest no-hit gap in major league history as Florida beat Arizona 2-0.
2009 — Ichiro Suzuki got his 2,000th hit in the majors. He became the second-fastest player to reach the mark, doing it in 1,402 games; Al Simmons did it in 1,390. The 35-year-old Suzuki also got 1,278 hits while playing in Japan.
2013 — Yusmeiro Petit’s bid for a perfect game was broken up by Eric Chavez’s two-out single in the ninth inning. The right-hander got the next batter to close out the San Francisco Giants’ 3-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
2013 — Mike Napoli hit a tying grand slam in the seventh, Shane Victorino had a go-ahead homer one inning later and the Boston Red Sox rallied past the New York Yankees 12-8. One night earlier, the Yankees took an 8-7 lead with a six-run seventh — only to lose 9-8 in 10 innings on Victorino’s tiebreaking single. New York lost consecutive games when scoring at least eight runs for the first time since September 1949. The last time it happened with both games at home was 1911 against Cleveland.
2016 — The Twins lose again, 10 - 3, to the Royals, but Brian Dozier is red hot. He homers in his fifth straight game, tying a team record, and now has 39, tying the American League record for a second baseman set by Alfonso Soriano. Dozier has hit 25 homers since the All-Star break, but the Twins have won only two of their last 17 games and have the worst record in the majors.
2020 — Hall of FamerLou Brock, who held the career and single-season stolen bases records before they were broken by Rickey Henderson, and a member of the 3,000 hit club, passes away at age 81.
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Sept. 7
1908 — Walter Johnson pitched his third consecutive shutout in four days with a 4-0, two-hit victory over the New York Highlanders.
1911 — Rookie Grover Alexander of the Philadelphia Phillies took a 1-0 thriller from 44-year-old Cy Young, who was closing out his career with the Boston Braves.
1914 — The Boston Braves had to move its home games to Fenway Park because Braves Field was not big enough to handle the crowds. The “Miracle Braves” played the rest of their home games and the World Series games at the home of the Red Sox.
1923 — Howard Ehmke of the Boston Red Sox tossed a 4-0, no-hit victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. Philadelphia’s Slim Harriss hit a ball to the wall for a double, but was called out for missing first base, preserving the no-hitter.
1962 — Maury Wills of Los Angeles stole four bases and set a National League record with a total of 82 for the season. The Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1.
1975 — The Cincinnati Reds, leading by 20 1/2 games, clinched the National League West flag with an 8-4 win over the San Franciso Giants. It was the earliest clinching date in league history.
1984 — Dwight Gooden of the Mets struck out Ron Cey of the Chicago Cubs in the second inning for No. 228 to set a National League record for a rookie. Gooden passed Grover Cleveland Alexander, who set the mark with 227 in 1911. New York coasted to a 10-0 victory behind Gooden’s one-hitter.
1993 — Mark Whiten of the St. Louis Cardinals had the greatest game at the plate in major league history in the nightcap of a doubleheader with Cincinnati. In the 15-2 win, Whiten hit four home runs and drove in 12 runs to become the only player to accomplish both feats in one game.
2007 — Curtis Granderson hit his 20th home run in Detroit’s 6-1 win over Seattle, making him only the sixth major league player since 1900 with at least 20 home runs, 20 doubles and 20 triples in one season.
2007 — Colorado used nine relievers after starter Elmer Dessens left with a strained left hamstring in the third inning of a 10-4 win over San Diego. The 10 total pitchers was a National League record for a nine-inning game.
2013 — Mike Napoli hit two home runs, Jonny Gomes and prized rookie Xander Bogaerts also connected, and the Boston Red Sox kept up their dizzying scoring spree at Yankee Stadium, bashing New York 13-9. The AL East leaders became the first visiting team in more than a century to score at least nine runs on three straight days against the Yankees. The last time it happened, they weren’t called the Yankees — Boston did it in 1912 to the Highlanders at Hilltop Park.
2017 — The Cleveland Indians set a franchise record with their 15th consecutive win, beating the Chicago White Sox 11-2 behind another terrific outing for Corey Kluber. Cleveland also belted five homers while becoming the first major league team with a 15-game winning streak since Oakland won 20 in a row in 2002.
2019 — Pitcher Michael Pineda of the Twins receives a 60-game suspension for testing positive for a PED, dealing a major blow to his team’s postseason hopes, as he was one of their most consistent starting pitchers, going 11-5 on the year.
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Sept. 8
1905 — The Pittsburgh Pirates stranded 18 runners in an 8-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds to set a National League record for men left on base.
1939 — With his 12-1 victory over the Browns in St. Louis, 20-year-old Bob Feller became the youngest modern-era player to win 20 games.
1940 — Joe Gordon of the New York Yankees hit for the cycle in a 9-4 win over the Boston Red Sox.
1940 — Johnny Mize of St. Louis hit three homers and drove in six runs in a 16-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader. Mize became the first player to hit three homers in one game four times in a career.
1955 — The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Braves 10-2 to clinch the National League pennant with a 17-game lead.
1958 — Roberto Clemente tied a major league record by hitting three triples in a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
1965 — Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A’s played all nine positions but had to leave after a ninth-inning collision with Ed Kirkpatrick of the Angels. The Angels won 5-3 in 13 innings.
1972 — Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3, for his 20th victory of the season. It marked the sixth straight year Jenkins had won 20 or more games.
1985 — Cincinnati’s Pete Rose inserted himself into the lineup when the Chicago Cubs named right-hander Reggie Patterson as the starting pitcher. Rose singled in the first inning and again in the fifth inning to tie Ty Cobb with 4,191 career hits. Rose was retired in his other at-bats and the game was called because of darkness after nine innings with the score tied 5-5.
1988 — National League president Bart Giamatti was unanimously elected to succeed Peter Ueberroth as the commissioner of baseball.
1992 — New York’s Danny Tartabull drove in nine runs as the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 16-4. Tartabull went 5-for-5 with two homers and a double.
1993 — Darryl Kile pitched baseball’s second no-hitter in five days, leading the Houston Astros to a 7-1 win over the New York Mets. Kile struck out nine and walked one.
1996 — Todd Hundley of the New York Mets became the ninth player to hit 40 home runs this season, breaking the major league record set in 1961.
1998 — Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris’ 37-year-old home run record, lining historic No. 62 just over the wall in left field with two outs in the fourth inning. McGwire’s shot off the Chicago Cubs’ Steve Trachsel set off a wild celebration in Busch Stadium.
2008 — Pinch hitting for Houston, Mark Saccomanno homered on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues to help the Astros beat Pittsburgh. Saccomanno hit a solo shot in the fifth inning.
2015 — Alex Rodriguez ties Hank Aaron record of 15 seasons with 30 or more home runs.
2022 — By making their 324th start as a battery, P Adam Wainwright and C Yadier Molina of the Cardinals tie the all-time mark set by Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan of the Tigers in the 1960s and 1970s. Molina marks the occasion by going deep twice - his first long balls since May - but the Cards lose to the Nationals, 11 - 6. The pair will set the new record on the 14th.
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Sept. 9
1914 — George Davis of the Boston Braves pitched a 7-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader. Davis’ no-hitter was the first thrown at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.
1922 — Baby Doll Jacobson hit three triples to lead the St. Louis Browns to a 16-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
1936 — The New York Yankees clinched their eighth American League pennant with a doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Indians, 11-3 and 12-9. The Yankees finished 19½ games ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the largest margin in team history.
1945 — Dick Fowler of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a doubleheader.
1948 — Rex Barney of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 2-0 no-hit victory against the New York Giants on a rainy day at the Polo Grounds. He walked two and struck out four.
1965 — Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers tossed his fourth no-hitter, a perfect game, against the Chicago Cubs. Koufax fanned 14 in the 1-0 victory while Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley allowed one hit — a double by Lou Johnson.
1987 — Nolan Ryan strikes out his 4,500th batter.
1988 — Atlanta’s Bruce Sutter joined Rollie Fingers and Rich Gossage as the only pitchers to save 300 games as the Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 in 11 innings.
1992 — Robin Yount became the 17th player to reach 3,000 hits in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Yount singled to right center off Cleveland’s Jose Mesa in the seventh inning.
1998 — The New York Yankees officially clinched the AL East title, the earliest in AL history, beating the Boston Red Sox 7-5. The Yankees improved to 102-41 — 20½ games ahead of second-place Boston.
2001 — Barry Bonds hit three home runs to give him 63 for the season. The third homer was a three-run shot in the 11th inning lifting San Francisco over the Colorado Rockies 9-4. Bonds broke Roger Maris’ record of 61 for most homers in a season by a left-handed hitter.
2004 — Joe Randa had six hits and tied a major league record with six runs, and Alex Berroa hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five runs in Kansas City’s 26-5 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader. Randa became the first AL player to have six hits and six runs in the same nine-inning game.
2007 — Milwaukee became the third team in major league history to open a game with three straight home runs when Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun connected off Cincinnati’s Phil Dumatrait in a 10-5 victory. Weeks and Braun each hit two home runs and J.J. Hardy homered and hit two doubles — all in the first four innings.
2017 — Jose Abreu became the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle in 17 years in Chicago’s 13-1 rout of the San Francisco Giants.
2020 — At the urging of Roberto Clemente’s family, Major League Baseball pays tribute to its first Latin American superstar by allowing Puerto Rican players and others to wear his uniform number, 21, in his honor, on this day. This is akin to the wearing of #42 on Jackie Robinson Day. In addition, all members of the Pirates, Clemente’s former team, wear the number, the first time it has been worn by a team member since Clemente’s passing 48 years earlier.
2022 — Major League Baseball announces the adoption of a number of changes to the rules to be introduced at the start of the 2023 season. They include a pitch clock, limits on defensive shifts, and larger bases. All of these changes have already been successfully tested in minor league games and aim to improve pace of play, reduce injuries and create more in-game action.
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