In a matchup of undefeated pitchers, Cleveland’s Cliff Lee (5-0) bests Chien-Ming Wang (6-0) and the Yankees, 3-0. The Indians southpaw, who tosses seven shutout innings, lowers his ERA to a minuscule 0.81, best in major leagues.
In a 13 – 1 win by the Twins, Carlos Gomez hits for the cycle, the first Twins player to do so since Kirby Puckett in 1986. Gomez homers off Mark Buehrle in the 1st, triples in the 5th, doubles in the 6th and singles in the 9th, driving in runs on each of the first three hits.
Rookie Joey Votto becomes the 23rd member of the Cincinnati Reds to hit three home runs in a game. Votto, who starred for Canada in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, goes deep off Jon Lieber, Sean Marshall and Sean Gallagher in a 9 – 0 win over the Cubs. In the Reds’ 9-0 victory over the Cubs at Great American Ball Park, Jon Lieber joins Phil Norton (2000) in becoming only the second hurler in franchise history to allow four homers in one inning.
The Pirates top the Giants, 3 – 1, as Phil Dumatrait gets his first major league win. Barry Zito falls to 0-7, the first Giants hurler since Bill Clarkson in 1927 to reach such depths in just 7 starts.
With an 8-5 victory over the Rangers, Joe Torre joins Joe McCarthy (1,460), Casey Stengel (1,149), and Miller Huggins (1,067) as the fourth Yankee manager to win 1000 games. The Bronx Bomber skipper has compiled a 1,000-645 record during his 11-year tenure with the team.
When Barry Bonds takes his position in left field, the Phillies fans in the stands behind him unfurl a section-long banner which leaves no doubt about their sentiments concerning the Giants outfielder’s pursuit of the Babe. The message displayed briefly during the first inning informs the unpopular superstar “Ruth did it on hot dogs & Beer – Aaron did it with class”.
Bob Wickman, obtained by Cleveland in a seven-player trade that sent Richie Sexson to Milwaukee, becomes the Indians’ all-time franchise leader in saves when he notches his 130th by tossing a scoreless ninth inning in the Tribe’s 2-0 victory over Seattle at Safeco Field. The right-hander surpasses the record previously established by Doug Jones, and he will extend the record to 139 saves before being dealt to the Braves next season.
At 12:03 p.m at Princeton’s Hunnicutt Field, the semifinals of the WVIAC baseball tournament game between Ohio Valley and West Virginia State is delayed by rain. Due to the final game of the tourney having to start before midnight, with the winner of this game facing Concord for the title, players, fans, and media waited eight hours and 54 minutes for the contest to resume.
2005 – Julio Franco of the Atlanta Braves goes 3 for 4, including his first home run of the season, in a 4 – 1 victory over the Houston Astros. Franco, who turns 47 on August 23rd, becomes the second-oldest player in major league history to homer at 46 years, 257 days. Jack Quinn, a pitcher who accomplished the feat when he was 100 days older, hit a home run for the Philadelphia Athletics on June 27, 1930; Franco will eventually pass him as well.
The Rangers announce a 30-year deal reported to be worth about $75 million with one of the country’s leading wholesale lenders to rename their ballpark in Arlington as Ameriquest Field. The agreement will be short-lived when a crisis in the subprime mortgage industry causes Ameriquest to relinquished its naming rights in 2007.
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