John Franco of the New York Mets becomes the first left-handed pitcher to reach the 300-save plateau with a scoreless 9th inning in a 3 – 2 Mets win over the Expos at Shea Stadium.
Brady Anderson leads off the 1st inning with a home run for the fourth straight game for the Baltimore Orioles. The Texas Rangers overcome that homer, beating the Orioles, 9 – 6.
1996 – Houston batters Cincinnati, 13-5, on 18 hits. Sean Berry has three hits and five RBIs. Derek Bell has four hits while four other Astros enjoy multi-hit evenings.
1996 – Juan Gonzalez hits a home run and drives in six runs as Texas beats Baltimore, 26 – 7. Texas scores 16 runs in the 8th inning – one short of the modern major league mark – and scores the most runs by an American League team in 41 years. Jesse Orosco’s ERA rises from an ugly 9.82 to an almost unfathomable 27.00. Orosco is relieved by infielder Manny Alexander, who gets the last two outs but walks off the mound with a 67.50 ERA.
1996 – Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux ends his major league record for consecutive road victories with a 2 – 1 loss to San Diego. Maddux had been 18-0 with an 0.99 ERA in 20 regular-season road starts since losing at Montreal on June 27, 1994.
On April 7, 1996, the National League grants overweight umpire Eric Gregg a leave of absence in the aftermath of the Opening Day death of fellow umpire John McSherry, who succumbed to a massive heart attack. The NL hopes that Gregg will lose weight and improve his health during the layoff.
The Twins hand the Orioles their first loss of the year‚ topping the O’s‚ 8 – 3. Cal Ripken fumbles a grounder in the 5th inning stopping his errorless streak at 74 games.
Tiger CF Melvin Nieves bangs two doubles‚ a triple and a homer as the Tigers top the A’s‚ 6 – 1. Nieves was acquired from the Padres in a spring training trade.
Terry Pendleton hits a game-ending homer leading off the 10th to give Florida a 1 – 0 win over the Giants. Mark Dewey‚ in relief of starter Mark Leiter who went 9 innings‚ serves up the gopher.
Warming up in the outfield before the Indians’ game with Toronto‚ Albert Belle heaves a ball at photographer Tony Tomsic‚ hitting him. Belle contends that it wasn’t deliberate‚ even though it was his second throw near Tomsic‚ and even though he warned the photographer not to snap his picture. The league will open an investigation in two weeks and Tomsic will file a lawsuit on December 12th. The Indians win the game‚ defeating the Blue Jays‚ 5 – 3.
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