The Athletics complete a four-game sweep of the Indians with a 12 – 7 win at Progressive Field, their 8th victory in their last 9 games. As a result, they remain one game ahead of Baltimore in the race for the second wild card. The Indians continue their free fall, with a record of 5-27 since July 27th. Things start well for Cleveland, as Jason Kipnis hits a lead-off homer off Jarrod Parker, but the A’s tee off on Justin Masterson for 3 homers and 8 runs in 4 innings. George Kottaras and Josh Reddick drive in three runs apiece, while Coco Crisp and Cliff Pennington hit two-run homers

Thanks to official scorer Bob Rosenberg changing his ruling, Darwin Barney establishes a National League single-season record when he plays in his 114th straight errorless game at second base in the Cubs’ 3-1 loss to Milwaukee at Wrigley Field to break the mark set by David Eckstein, who had accomplished the feat playing for the Padres in 2010. After Barney originally received an error for his toss to Luis Valbuena, the retired sportswriter changed his mind, giving the error to the third baseman for mishandling the throw.

Rookie Bryce Harper hits a pair of homers to lead Washington to an 8 – 4 win over Miami, snapping a five-game losing streak, but also racks up his first career ejection when he is tossed for throwing his batting helmet after grounding into a double play in the 9th inning.

The Pirates shut out the Cardinals for the second straight day, 5 – 0, behind the pitching of Wandy Rodriguez and a three-run homer by Pedro Alvarez, to win the rubber match of a key series between the two division rivals battling for a wild card slot. The Bucs won 9 – 0 yesterday behind James McDonald and are now one game back of St. Louis.

2012 – San Francisco scores twice in the 9th inning on pinch-hits by Joaquin Arias and Hector Sanchez to defeat the Astros, 3 – 2. SS Brandon Crawford makes a tremendous catch in the 1st inning when Jason Castro pops up a ball into foul territory. 3B Pablo Sandoval races to get under the ball, but falls over, still managing to get his glove on the ball to deflect it upwards. Crawford then dives in behind him, snaring the ball inches off the ground for the rare assisted putout on a pop-up. The Giants are now 3 1/2 games up on the Dodgers in the NL West, their biggest lead of the year.

Starlin Castro agrees to a seven-year contract extension with the Cubs, which includes a club option for an eighth season in 2020. The 22 year-old shortstop, already a two-time All-Star, became the youngest player in National League history to lead the circuit in hits when he collected 207 last season.

Felix Hernandez is at it again, pitching a five-hit shutout to beat the Twins, 1 – 0. Eric Thames’ solo homer off Liam Hendriks in the 8th acounts for the game’s only run. Hendriks falls to 0-7 lifetime, while Hernandez (13-5) has his fourth 1-0 victory of the season, including his perfect game on August 15th. Only two other pitchers have won four such decisions in a season since 1969: Ferguson Jenkins in 1974 and Bert Blyleven in 1976. Also, only two other hurlers (Carl Hubbell, in 1933, and Dick Rudolph, in 1916) had tossed three 1 – 0 wins in a month.

Adrian Beltre remains red hot. After being named the American League Player of the Week for his historic combination of hitting for the cycle and having a three-homer game, he goes 3 for 3 with a home run and 4 RBI in Texas’s 6 – 5 win over the Rays. Beltre is now hitting .385 with 6 homers and 13 RBI in his last 8 games.

The Phillies complete a three-game sweep of the first-place Nationals as Cliff Lee hits a go-ahead double in the 5th and gives up one run in 7 innings. Lee is now 3-7 after the 5 – 1 win in which Josh Lindblom picks up his first career save.

The Orioles obtain P Joe Saunders in a trade with the Diamondbacks, sending reliever Matt Lindstrom in return.