The Royals beat the Indians, 7 – 1, in a match with significant implications for the AL wild card race. James Shields strikes out a season-high 10 batters as the Royals move within 2 1/2 games of a postseason slot, with Cleveland two games ahead of them as a number of other teams are also still in contention.

Andrew Cashner makes a bid to become the first pitcher in Padres history to throw a no-hitter, but falls short, allowing a 7th-inning hit to Jose Tabata after retiring the first 18 batters. He settles for a one-hitter in beating the Pirates, 2 – 0, facing the minimum 27 batters. Pittsburgh remains tied with St. Louis, beaten 6 – 2 at Colorado, in the NL Central.

Nick Swisher homers from both sides of the plate to lead the Indians to a 7 – 1 win over the White Sox. The win brings Cleveland within a half-game of Tampa Bay and Texas for the second wild card spot in the American League. It is the 13th time that Swisher has accomplished the feat, tying him with former teammate Mark Teixeira for most ever.

The A’s defeat the Rangers, 1 – 0, as Brandon Moss doubles in Josh Donaldson against hard-luck Yu Darvish in the 1st inning. Bartolo Colon is the winner with help from Grant Balfouras Oakland stretches its lead over Texas to 5 1/2 games.

Jon Lester brings the Red Sox closer to a division title with a 5 – 1 win over the Yankees, pitching 8 solid innings and allowing only 3 hits in defeating CC Sabathia.

In a much anticipated start, Atlanta rookie David Hale sets a franchise record with nine strikeouts in his major league debut, but does not collect the victory when San Diego stages a late rally off the bullpen to overcome a three-run deficit to beat the Braves at Turner Field, 4-3. The 25 year-old right-hander from Marietta, GA surpasses the previous mark of eight shared by Bob Dresser (1902) and Kenshin Kawakami (2009).

It may be too little too late, but the Nationals are finally getting hot, winning their 7th straight and 18th in 23 games, 6 – 1 over the Phillies. They are now 4 1/2 games back of a wild cardslot, but time is running out. Ross Ohlendorf, making an emergency start in place of ace Stephen Strasburg, picks up the win.

Chris Davis hits his 50th homer of the year off Steve Delabar in the 8th to lead the Orioles to a 5 – 3 win over Toronto. Davis joins Babe Ruth and Albert Belle as the only players to hit 50 dingers and 40 doubles in the same season.

2013 – The Yankees defeat the Orioles, 6 – 5, as their newest player, SS Brendan Ryan, acquired in a trade three days earlier, scores the winning run in the 9th. He opens the inning with a single and reaches third when O’s closer Jim Johnson throws Chris Stewart’s bunt into center field. Johnson then bounces a pitch to the screen to allow Ryan to score. The loss is a letdown for Baltimore, as Danny Valencia had tied the game with a three-run homer off David Robertson in the 8th.

Wladimir Balentien takes Kan Otake deep for his 55th homer of the 2013 season. He ties the Nippon Pro Baseball record for dingers shared by Sadaharu Oh, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera. Balentien, who had set the Arizona League home run mark 10 years earlier, led the Central League in homers the past two years, while the league juiced up the ball prior to the season.