For the first time in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Rays are 26 games over .500 as they beat the A’s, 7 – 6. B.J. Upton drives in a run off Brad Ziegler, ending Ziegler’s record scoreless streak to start a career at 39 innings. Carlos Pena leads off the 12th inning with the winning homer for the Rays.

With his 5-for-5 performance, including a single, double, triple, and homer, Mark Kotsay joins Albert Hall as the only Atlanta players to hit for the cycle. The outfielder’s offensive outburst isn’t enough, as the Cubs beat the Braves, 11-7, giving Chicago their first season sweep of the Braves in franchise history, which dates back to 1876.

Andy LaRoche and Adam LaRoche appear together for the Pirates in a 3 – 1 loss to the Reds, going 1 for 6 with a walk between them. They become the 8th pair of brothers to play together in franchise history but the first in 50 years.

On the day he would have celebrated his 69th birthday, Skip Caray’s public tribute is attended by over a thousand fans at Turner Field. Known for his witty and sometimes sarcastic style, the Braves’ longtime nationally acclaimed broadcaster, who started broadcasting games for Atlanta in 1976, died on August 3.

After the Red Sox tally ten times in the first inning, powered with a pair of three-run homers by David Ortiz, the Rangers rally back and take a 15-14 lead with eight runs in the fifth and five in the sixth. Kevin Youkilis’s eighth-inning three-run homer over Fenway Park’s Green Monster gives Boston an eventual 19-17 victory, with the slugfest’s 36 runs tying an American League record.

2008 – Scott Feldman has a day he would like to forget, becoming the first pitcher in 90 years and 9 days to allow 12 runs without losing as the Rangers eventually do fall, 19 – 17, to the Red Sox. Gene Packard was the last hurler to be so, um, lucky. David Ortiz hits two three-run homers in the 1st inning and scores four times on the day while Kevin Youkilis drives in 5 on two home runs.

Carlos Quentin of the White Sox gets plunked by Josh Beckett; he has now been hit by pitch in five games in a row, the first player since 1920 to accomplish that painful feat. Quentin has been hit by pitches 19 times so far this season.

A very pleasantly surprised Adam Dunn is traded by the Reds to the Diamondbacks for minor league right-hander Dallas Buck and two players to be named. In the midst of a losing season, Cincinnati continues unloading its marquee players with Dunn, the major league leader in home runs (tie), and future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. being exchanged for prospects as the team begins a rebuilding phase.

2008 – The Tampa Bay Rays set a new franchise record for wins; never having topped 70 in any of 10 prior seasons, the Rays win their 71st game before mid-August to go to 71-46. They top the Mariners, 11 – 3, with three-run homers by Willy Aybar and Shawn Riggans. Edwin Jackson gets the victory. The Rays will finish the year with 97 wins and represent the American League in the World Series.

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration commemorating the Giants’ move to San Francisco, the team honors their greatest outfielders. Barry Bonds, thought not to be in attendance for the event, receives a standing ovation accompanied by a loud approval from the surprised fans when his name is announced and takes part of the ceremony telling the crowd, “It feels awful to me not to be in uniform and the Dodgers are right here”.