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R.A. Dickey Defies Expectations: Leads NL in Strikeouts After 20-Win Season

ByThis Day in Baseball

In his last appearance of the season, Mets’ 20-game winner R.A. Dickey whiffs eight Miami batters to end the campaign with 230 strikeouts, the most in the National League. The 37 year-old knuckleballer did not foresee the possibility of this occurrence when he wrote the opening lines of Wherever I Wind Up, his autobiography released in March, sharing with his readers, “I will never be a Hall of Famer and will never lead the league in strikeouts,” unaware that he would accomplish the feat in the near future.

The Pirates win first post season game since 1992

ByThis Day in Baseball

2013 – The Pirates win the National League Wild Card Game, 6 – 2, over the Reds thanks to a pair of home runs by Russell Martin and one by Marlon Byrd to back the pitching of Francisco Liriano, who needs only 27 pitches to retire the Reds in order in the first three innings to set the tone for the game. It is the Pirates’ first postseason win since the 1992 NLCS.

Tigers clinch AL Central Title on Miguel Cabrera 44th HR

ByThis Day in Baseball

The champagne also flows in Kansas City, MO, where the Tigers defeat the Royals, 6 – 3, to clinch the AL Central title. Miguel Cabrera hits his 44th home run in the game. In deference to their star slugger, who is leading the AL in all three triple crown categories but who has had trouble with alcohol abuse in the past, the Tigers choose to celebrate with an alcohol-free bubbly.

The A’s cap a historic playoff run with 4-3 win over Rangers

ByThis Day in Baseball

The Athletics crown an improbable playoff run by defeating the Rangers, 4 – 3, securing at least a wild card spot in the American League. They can still win the AL West crown if they defeat the Rangers in their last three games. The Athletics had traded away two All-Star starters during the off-season, then lost their only three experienced starting pitchers – Bartolo Colon, Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson – during the season, going with an all-rookie starting rotation during an 8-4 run that clinched the playoff slot.