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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

At Marlins Park, benches clear when Brian McCann confronts Jose Fernandez as the Miami starting pitcher crosses home plate after hitting his first career home run. The Braves’ backstop and third baseman Chris Johnson take exception to the 21 year-old rookie right-hander admiring the home run from the batter box, then glaring into the Atlanta dugout as he was rounding the bases.

The Pirates complete a three-game sweep of the Rangers with a 7 – 5 win in Arlington. A.J. Burnett is the winner and Kyle Farnsworth registers his first save in almost two years with top relievers Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon both unavailable. Meanwhile, the Cardinals stay in first place in the NL Central with a 5 – 1 win over Milwaukee after not getting a hit until the 6th inning; they still lead the Pirates by a game.

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.

2013 – Clay Buchholz is victorious in his return to the mound for the Red Sox after being out since June with a strained neck. He gives up no runs over five innings to improve to 10-0 on the year as the Sox blank the Rays, 2 – 0.