August 17

2018 – The Cubs tie a major league record by turning seven double plays in a 1 – 0 win over the Pirates. Fittingly, the game ends when David Freese hits a grounder to 3B David Bote who starts the record-tying twin killing. They are the third team to achieve the feat in a 9-inning game.

The Commissioner’s office issues an indefinite suspension against Astros minor league outfielder Danry Vasquez, one day after the release of a tape from a surveillance camera showing him assaulting his girlfriend in a stairwell at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, TX. The Astros immediately announce that he has been handed his unconditional release, as teams no longer show any tolerance for serious incidents of family violence.

2014 – Michael Cuddyer returns to the Rockies’ line-up after missing 60 days because of a fractured shoulder and hits for the cycle on his first day back as the Rockies sweep the Reds, 10 – 9 and 10 – 5, in a doubleheader. Cuddyer goes 1-for-5 in the opener before collecting his second career cycle in the nitecap; he is only the third player to have one in both leagues, after Bob Watson and John Olerud. Before the games, the Rockies retire uniform number 17 in honor of long-time 1B Todd Helton, who retired after last season.

Miguel Tejada is suspended for 105 games, one of the longest in baseball history, after he reportedly tested positive on multiple occasions this season for Adderall, an amphetamine used to treat attention-deficit disorder. The 39 year-old Royals infielder, a six-time All-Star, apologizes to the organization, his teammates, and the Kansas City fans, explaining his medical condition requires medication, but that he was wrong to take it while re-applying for a Therapeutic Use Exemption.

Clayton Kershaw blanks the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, 5-0, giving the Dodgers their first double-digit winning streak since 2006. The team’s 42 victories in their last fifty games, including a 25-3 mark since the All-Star break, equals the 1941 Yankees and 1942 Cardinals for the best record for that span of games since 1900.

Lugazi, Uganda becomes the first team from Africa to appear in the 66-year history of the Little League World Series when they are defeated by Aguadulce, Panama, 9-3. None of the African youths, who have become the darlings of the tournament, have been playing baseball for more than two years.

In his 1,000th major league game, Prince Fielder, with his two homers off Josh Beckett in the Tigers’ 10-0 rout of Boston at Comerica Park, ends the day with 232 career round-trippers. The Detroit first baseman’s dad, Cecil, also had the same total of big league home runs after playing in the same amount of games.

The Angels’ Jered Weaver gets roughed up, giving up 9 earned runs 3 innings in the worst start of his career as Tampa Bay cruises to a 12 – 3 win at Angels Stadium. Weaver’s ERA shoots up from 2.22 to 2.74 as a result of the outing, and he faces seven batters without recording an out in the 4th before manager Mike Scioscia mercifully removes him from the game. James Shields is the winner while B.J. Upton goes 4 for 5 with a homer and 3 RBI.

Clay Buchholz strikes out Adam Jones (looking), Matt Wieters (looking), and Chris Davis (swinging) on nine pitches in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Red Sox’s 6-3 victory over Baltimore at Camden Yards. The immaculate inning thrown by the Red Sox right-hander marks the 47th time the feat has been accomplished in major league history, and the first for a Boston hurler since Pedro Martinez turned the trick in 2002.