The Rays complete a three-game sweep of the Red Sox with an emphatic 9 – 1 win at Tropicana Field. B.J. Upton hits his first career grand slam off Matt Albers in the 5th to put the game away. It is Upton’s 20th homer this year, putting him in the 20-20 club alongside his brother Justin, who has also reached 20 homers and 20 stolen bases with the Diamondbacks. It is the first time a pair of brothers has reached the mark in the same season; six other brother combos have done it in different seasons. Winner James Shields comes within two outs of recording his 12th complete game, but happily settles for his 15th win, a career high. The Rays have now cut Boston’s lead in the wild card race to 3 1/2 games.

The Tigers win their 9th straight game, 2 – 1 over the Twins, to cut their magic number in the AL Central to 7. Doug Fister improves to 5-1 after being acquired by the Tigers at the trading deadline; he was 3-12 with the Mariners before the trade.

Dan Haren pitches a four-hit shutout, denying CC Sabathia his bid for his 20th win of the year, as the Angels blank the Yankees, 6 – 0. The win moves the Halos to within 1 1/2 games of the AL West-leading Texas Rangers. The Angels score their last 5 runs off rookies Hector Noesi and George Kontos, after Sabathia departs after 6 innings, trailing, 1 – 0. Jorge Posada is pressed into service behind the plate for the first time this season for the Yankees after Russell Martin leaves the game with a bruised thumb in the 2nd inning.

The Rays are also making a playoff push, beating the Red Sox, 6 – 5, to cut another game off their lead in the Wild Card race. Rays closer Jeff Farnsworth suffers a blown save when he gives up back-to-back homers to Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jacoby Ellsbury with one out in the 9th inning to tie the game at 5-all. Farnsworth then issues a double to Dustin Pedroia and walks Adrian Gonzalez, but Cesar Ramos then steps in to get the Rays out of the jam. In the bottom of the 11th, the Rays win the game when Desmond Jennings hits a lead-off triple and Evan Longoria drives him in with a single.

2011 – The Tampa Bay Rays continue their late charge for a postseason berth by beating the Red Sox, 7 – 2, behind a complete game by Wade Davis. The Rays are now 5 1/2 games behind Boston in the Wild Card race; the Red Sox, beset by injuries, have lost 5 of 6 and 8 of 11.

Ian Kennedy picks up his National League-leading 19th win as the Diamondbacks defeat San Diego, 4 – 1. He fans 11 batters in 7 2/3 innings in a dominating effort. J.J. Putz then picks up his 38th save as the D-Backs have now won 14 of their last 16.

The Braves sweep a doubleheader from the Mets at Citi Field, increasing their lead in the Wild Card race to 7 1/2 games. A pair of rookies pick up the wins, Mike Minor in the 6 – 5 defeat of New York in the opener, and Julio Teheran, with his first major league victory, as the Braves prevail, 5 – 1, in the nightcap. All four starters are in fact rookies (Chris Schwinden and Dillon Gee start for the Mets), the first time four rookie pitchers are the starters in a doubleheader since 1965.

The Tampa Bay Rays, née Devil Rays, win the 1000th game in franchise history when rookie Desmond Jennings connects for a walk-off home run off Mark Lowe in the 10th inning of today’s game against the Texas Rangers for a 5- 4 win.

The Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter pitches his first shutout in exactly two years as he whitewashes the Brewers, 2 – 0, beating Zack Greinke. The Cards still trail the Brew Crew by 8 1/2 games, however.