Teams are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, scheduled to hit the Northeastern states over the next two days. The Mets cancel their games scheduled for both days as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg orders a partial evacuation of the city’s coastal areas and a shutdown of its transit system in anticipation of the storm. The Red Sox decide to move up their Sunday game against the A’s to a Saturday afternoon doubleheader, while the Orioles are planning to cancel a Saturday doubleheader against the Yankees by playing one of the games as part of a Sunday doubleheader, and the second on what should have been an open date on September 8th. The Yankees are unhappy about losing what was their last scheduled rest day of the season, but their proposal to play a game instead at 10:00 am on Saturday is rejected. The Phillies also move games around, electing to play a scheduled Sunday game against the Marlins on Saturday afternoon, and moving Saturday’s evening game to September 15th. All of these scheduling changes are made before the first drop of rain even falls.

The Rangers open a key three-game series with the Angels with an 11 – 7 win at home, stopping the Halos’ 6-game winning streak. Nelson Cruz homers twice and drives in 6 runs in support of Derek Holland’s pitching. David Murphy adds a grand slam for the Rangers, who stretch their lead in the AL West back to three games.

Chris Capuano tosses the best game of his career, throwing a two-hit shutout while striking out 13, as the Mets defeat the Braves, 6 – 0.