On October 3, 2012 Miguel Cabrera clinches the AL Triple Crown, becoming the first player to do so since 1967, when Carl Yastrzemski accomplished the feat with Boston. The Tigers third baseman and eventual MVP led the circuit in average (.330), home runs (44), and RBIs (139), playing with the American League champs. He survives…
On October 3, 2012.00 Dan Johnson goes deep three times for the White Sox. Before Longoria and Johnson had their three-homer days, only two players had ended their team’s season with three-homer contests: Gus Zernial and Richie Allen.
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 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 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.
The Nationals are shut out by Philadelphia, 2 – 0, but still clinch their first NL East title since their move to Washington, DC in 2005 when the Braves lose to the Pirates, 2 – 1.
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.
The Braves win for the 23rd straight time in a game started by Kris Medlen when they beat New York in the regular-season home finale at Turner Field, 6-2. The 26 year-old right-hander’s streak surpasses the major league mark shared by Carl Hubbell (Giants, 1936-37) and Whitey Ford (Yankees, 1950-53).
David Price becomes the first 20-game winner in franchise history when he goes seven innings in the Rays’ 6-2 win over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The 27 year-old southpaw, the youngest American League pitcher to win 20 since Johan Santana reached the milestone with Minnesota in 2004, will edge Tigers ace Justin Verlander for the AL Cy Young Award.
With New York’s 6-5 victory over Pittsburgh at Citi Field, R. A. Dickey becomes a 20-game winner, the first Mets hurler in 22 years to accomplish the feat. The 37 year-old knuckleballer is the sixth pitcher in the 50-year history of the franchise to reach the milestone, along with Tom Seaver (1969, 1971, 1972, and 1975), Jerry Koosman (1976), David Cone (1988), and Frank Viola (1990).
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