Bryce Harper hits his 40th home run in Washington’s 12 – 2 win over the Phillies. Only six other players have hit 40 homers in a season before turning 23.
The Cubs’ Jake Arrieta throws a one-hitter in shutting out the Reds, 7 – 0. Brandon Phillips’ two-out double in the 8th is the only blemish as Arrieta strikes out 13.
Two more teams punch their tickets to the postseason. The Orioles are the AL East champions for the first time since 1997 after defeating the Blue Jays, 8 – 2, and the Nationals clinch the NL East crown for the second time in three years when they beat the Atlanta Braves, 3 – 0.
Andrew Cashner makes a bid to become the first pitcher in Padres history to throw a no-hitter, but falls short, allowing a 7th-inning hit to Jose Tabata after retiring the first 18 batters. He settles for a one-hitter in beating the Pirates, 2 – 0, facing the minimum 27 batters. Pittsburgh remains tied with St. Louis, beaten 6 – 2 at Colorado, in the NL Central.
The Royals beat the Indians, 7 – 1, in a match with significant implications for the AL wild card race. James Shields strikes out a season-high 10 batters as the Royals move within 2 1/2 games of a postseason slot, with Cleveland two games ahead of them as a number of other teams are also still in contention.
The Orioles secure their first winning record since 1997 with a 9 – 5 win over the Athletics, giving them 82 wins on the year. Matt Wieters homers twice off Dan Straily to lead the offense, but the O’s can’t gain ground on the first-place Yankees, who beat the Rays, 6 – 4, behind Hiroki Kuroda and Rafael Soriano’s 40th save of the season. At the end of the day, New York leads by one game over Baltimore and 5 over the falling Rays.
The Orioles, with their 9-5 victory over Oakland, are assured of having their first winning season since the team finished first in the AL East in 1997. The Birds will finish the campaign with a 93-69 record for a second-place finish, but will earn a spot in the postseason as the play-in Wild Card team.
Nyjer Morgan, following appeals, will serve an eight-game suspension in place of the two original bans that totaled 15 games. The Nationals outfielder had been given a seven-game suspension when the commissioner’s office alleged he had deliberately thrown a baseball into the stands, resulting in a Philadelphia fan getting hit, and then a week later was handed an eight-game suspension for his instigation and participation in a brawl with Florida.
Mark Reynolds strikes out four times to reach the 200 mark for the second consecutive year as his Diamondbacks lose, 6 – 5, in 10 innings to San Diego. Reynolds set the all-time record with 204 strikeouts last year, but that is now under threat. Justin Upton collects five hits for the losers.
Peter Moylan pitches his 75th game of the season and still has not allowed a home run; this is a new record for most consecutive homerless outings to begin a season, breaking Chad Bradford’s two-year-old mark.