In the ninth inning of a 2-0 three-hit loss to Nolan Ryan and the Rangers, Angels shortstop Dick Schofield strikes out looking, becoming the right-hander’s 300th victim of the season. It is the sixth time the ‘Ryan Express’ has reached the plateau, but the first since striking out 341 batters in 1977.

The Blue Jays earn the final spot in the playoffs by scoring three runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat Baltimore 4 – 3 and clinch the American League East title. The surprising Orioles led the division most of the season and will finish 2nd just one season after losing 107 games.

Baltimore, after spending nearly three months in first place, is eliminated from the pennant race on the next-to-last day of the season when they suffer their second consecutive one-run loss to Toronto, allowing the Blue Jays to clinch first place in the AL East. The young group of players known as the “Why Not?” Orioles, led by Frank Robinson, improved in the standings by 32.5 games from their last-place finish last season.

Ending a 43-year relationship with Major League Baseball, NBC airs its final regular season Game of the Week. The contest, which features the Blue Jays clinching the AL East title with a 4-3 victory over the Orioles at the SkyDome, is the 981st broadcast of a weekly tradition which began in 1947.