The Yankees are assured of the best record in the American League after a 4 – 2 win over Boston. Andy Pettitte picks up the win and, as usual, Mariano Rivera gets the save in New York’s 100th win of the year. New York finishes 9-9 against their bitter rivals, after dropping the first 8 contests between the two teams.

Atlanta beats Washington, 6 – 3, thanks to 3 runs in the top of the 10th, completing a three-game sweep. The Braves have won 6 straight, 10 in a row on the road, and 14 of 16 to displace San Francisco as Colorado’s main rivals for the National League wild card; they are now 2 1/2 games back of the Rockies.

Bronx native Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court’s newest member, throws the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium, a strike right down the middle of the plate, before watching her team defeat the Red Sox, 3-0. In 1995, Justice Sotomayor, as a U.S. District Judge, issued an injunction which led to ending the nearly eight-month-long baseball strike.

The Dodgers also clinch a spot in the postseason with an 8 – 4 victory over Pittsburgh, highlighted by a two-run pinch single by Jim Thome. Manager Joe Torre leads a team to the playoffs for the 14th straight year, tying a record held by Bobby Cox of the Atlanta Braves.

Minnesota continues its late surge, winning its 11th in 12 games, 11 – 6 over Kansas City. Denard Span collects four hits and six RBI in the win.

CC Sabathia wins his 19th game, giving up one hit in seven innings in a 3 – 0 Yankees victory over Boston. Newly-appointed Supreme Court judge Sonia Sotomayor, a lifelong Yankees fan better known in baseball circles for her ruling that ended the 1994 strike, throws the ceremonial first pitch to Jose Molina.

Adam Wainwright also notches win number 19, as St. Louis beats Colorado, 6 – 3, to clinch the NL Central title.

New York clears the fence for the 127th time at the new Yankee Stadium to break the franchise record for most home runs hit by the team at home. Alex Rodriguez’s third-inning poke off Jon Lester in the Bronx Bombers’ 9-5 victory over Boston puts this year’s squad ahead of the 2004 and 2005 clubs, who both went deep 126 times in the old stadium.

Tuffy Rhodes reaches 3,500 total bases in Nippon Pro Baseball. He is the 23rd player to do so and takes the fewest games, 1,668, breaking Hiromitsu Ochiai’s mark of 1,675 games.

The Rangers top Tampa Bay, 8 – 3. Texas’s Ian Kinsler hits his 30th homer, becoming the third second baseman in major league history to have a 30-30 season. He follows Alfonso Soriano and Brandon Phillips.