It’s a rare good day for the Mets, who sweep the Marlins in a doubleheader at Citi Field, 2 – 1 and 5 – 1. R.A. Dickey pitches 7 scoreless innings to win the opener, and Dillon Gee follows by allowing only 1 run in 6 innings in the nitecap to improve to 12-5 on the year. Jose Reyes returns to the line-up in the second game and drives in a run, after missing three weeks to a hamstring injury. The Mets had been swept in their previous two doubleheaders this year.

David Price sets a Tampa Bay franchise record with 14 strikeouts in 7 innings in the Rays’ 12 – 0 rout of the Blue Jays. Desmond Jennings sets the tone by homering on the first pitch of the game from Brandon Morrow, then Sean Rodriguez and he go back-to-back in the 2nd inning. Two Rays relievers strike out four more batters over the last two innings, for a total of 18 whiffs on the day.

Zack Greinke improves to 10-0 at home this season as the Brewers beat the Cubs, 3 – 2, to complete a three-game sweep. The Brewers have won 24 of 26 games in August to run away with the NL Central lead, which now stands at 10 1/2 games in front of the Cardinals.

On a rain-soaked day at Fenway Park, the Red Sox manage to complete a doubleheader sweep of the A’s, 9 – 3 and 4 – 0, in spite of a series of rain delays totalling over three hours. The Sox jump on Guillermo Moscosofor 8 runs in 4 innings in the opener, including a two-run homer by Jason Varitek as Jon Lester is the winner. David Ortiz, who is 5 for 8 on the day, smacks a 2nd-inning homer off Graham Godfrey in the nitecap that sends the Sox on the way to victory. Erik Bedard pitches four scoreless innings but remains winless for the Sox, having to give way to Alfredo Aceves (9-1) after yet another lengthy delay. The teams were anxious to get the two games in, with Hurricane Irene about to hit Boston; the storm is responsible for cancelling five other games today, and is expected to wipe out the entire schedule in the Northeast tomorrow.

Chris Capuano tosses the best game of his career, throwing a two-hit shutout while striking out 13, as the Mets defeat the Braves, 6 – 0.

The Rangers open a key three-game series with the Angels with an 11 – 7 win at home, stopping the Halos’ 6-game winning streak. Nelson Cruz homers twice and drives in 6 runs in support of Derek Holland’s pitching. David Murphy adds a grand slam for the Rangers, who stretch their lead in the AL West back to three games.

Teams are bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, scheduled to hit the Northeastern states over the next two days. The Mets cancel their games scheduled for both days as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg orders a partial evacuation of the city’s coastal areas and a shutdown of its transit system in anticipation of the storm. The Red Sox decide to move up their Sunday game against the A’s to a Saturday afternoon doubleheader, while the Orioles are planning to cancel a Saturday doubleheader against the Yankees by playing one of the games as part of a Sunday doubleheader, and the second on what should have been an open date on September 8th. The Yankees are unhappy about losing what was their last scheduled rest day of the season, but their proposal to play a game instead at 10:00 am on Saturday is rejected. The Phillies also move games around, electing to play a scheduled Sunday game against the Marlins on Saturday afternoon, and moving Saturday’s evening game to September 15th. All of these scheduling changes are made before the first drop of rain even falls.

In a 22-9 annihilation of the A’s, the Yankees become the first team to hit three grand slams in one game. Robinson Cano, Russell Martin, and Curtis Granderson all go deep with the bases loaded at the Bronx ball yard.

The Red Sox recapture the lead in the AL East as their see-saw battle with the New York Yankees continues. Today, the Sox crush the Rangers, 13 – 2, behind the pitching of Josh Beckett and two-run homers by Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. Crawford has 5 RBI in the win.