The Cardinals back into a wild card slot in the National League after losing 3 – 1 to the Reds, but seeing the Dodgers also lose, 3 – 2, to the Giants.
The Athletics tie the Rangers for the AL West lead with a 3 – 1 win over Texas for their fifth straight victory. Oakland trailed the Rangers by 13 games on June 30th, but now have a chance to win the division outright as the two teams face each other one final time tomorrow.
Seven years after being beaned on the first pitch he saw in his only career plate appearance, derailing a promising career, Adam Greenberg gets a chance to bat again in the major leagues. The Miami Marlins send him up to pinch-hit in the 6th inning against the Mets’ R.A. Dickey. He strikes out on three pitches from the knuckleballer, but the crowd cheers wildly as his story of perseverance has made him a hero to many.
In his last appearance of the season, Mets’ 20-game winner R.A. Dickey whiffs eight Miami batters to end the campaign with 230 strikeouts, the most in the National League. The 37 year-old knuckleballer did not foresee the possibility of this occurrence when he wrote the opening lines of Wherever I Wind Up, his autobiography released in March, sharing with his readers, “I will never be a Hall of Famer and will never lead the league in strikeouts,” unaware that he would accomplish the feat in the near future.
The Astros top the Cubs in the first match-up of 100-loss teams since 1962. Bud Norris and four relievers hold Chicago to four hits (two by Starlin Castro) in the contest of sad-sack clubs.
In a matchup of 100-loss teams, only the second occurrence in major league history, the Astros (55-105) beat the Cubs (60-100) at Wrigley Field, 3-0. In 1962, the woeful 58-101 Chicago club played host to the expansion Mets, sporting a 39-118 record en route to setting the all-time modern era record for futility.
The Cardinals even their NLDS with the Phillies at one game apiece with a 5 – 4 win at Citizens Bank Park. They fall 4 – 0 against Cliff Lee as Chris Carpenter is chased after three innings, but come back for 5 runs against the ace lefthander. The Cards’ bullpen holds the Phillies to one hit over the last 6 innings to preserve the win.
The Tigers get a dominant outing by Max Scherzer to beat the Yankees, 5 – 3, and even their ALDS at one game each. Scherzer does not allow a hit until the 6th inning, while Miguel Cabrera puts the Tigers ahead with a two-run homer off Freddy Garcia in the 1st inning. Closer Jose Valverde struggles a bit in the 9th, giving up a home run to Nick Swisher and a triple to Jorge Posada, but ends the game with the tying run on base.
The Brewers take a 2-0 lead in their NLDS battle with the Diamondbacks with a 9 – 4 win at home. Both starters struggle, as Zack Greinke gives up three homers for the Brewers, while Daniel Hudson is tagged for 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Brew Crew scores 5 runs in the 6th to put the game away, the scoring starting on Jonathan Lucroy’s squeeze bunt. Ryan Braun leads the attack with a 3-for-4 game including a two-run homer off Hudson in the 1st. Takashi Saito is the winner in relief.
The Royals exercise next year’s $6 million option on David DeJesus, who had season-ending surgery on his right thumb. The 30 year-old outfielder batted .318 in 91 games for Kansas City before running into the Yankee Stadium wall on a play in July that became an inside-the-park home run for Derek Jeter.
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