“I owe too much to this organization for the next two years to risk getting hurt for an incentive. My outing (Sept. 12) got rained out and the last inning of my last start got rained out, so for whatever reason, it wasn’t meant to be. There’s a lot bigger problems out there. I’m proud of my season.” – PHIL HUGHES, explaining why he turned an offer to pitch for a $500,000 bonusPhil Hughes, who finished the final start of his season one out short of reaching 210 innings to receive a $500,000 contract incentive because of yesterday’s 66-minute rain delay, is given the opportunity to make a brief relief appearance for the Twins. The right-hander turns down the club’s offer, saying he also he would not have any interest in merely being given the bonus that is worth half-a-million dollars.

The Diamondbacks officially announce the hiring of Dave Stewart as their new General Manager, replacing the fired Kevin Towers. Stewart was the pitching ace for the Oakland A’s when Tony LaRussa, now the D-Backs’ President, led the team to three consecutive World Series appearances from 1988 to 1990.

The Braves fall behind the Cardinals in the race for the best record in the National League with a 4 – 0 loss to the Brewers. The game is marred by a bench-clearing brawl in the 1st, after Carlos Gomez takes Paul Maholm deep to open the score, then admires the flight of the ball, flips his bat and trots slowly around the bases while shouting at Maholm. Gomez, Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman and back-up C Gerald Laird are all ejected as a result of the melee; Gomez later explains that Maholm had twice hit him with pitches in previous games and it was his way of evening the score. Kyle Lohse needs only 89 pitches to pitch the two-hit shutout. Gomez will be handed a one-game suspension and a fine for his actions, as will Braves OF Reed Johnson, who although not ejected was the first player to leave the bench to join the confrontation.

For the third straight year, the Astros set a new team record for losses as they bow to the Rangers, 7 – 3, extending their current losing streak to 12 games and pushing their season’s total to 108. Houston lost 106 games in 2011 and 107 in 2012, after never topping 97 losses in its first 49 seasons. The Rangers have taken advantage of their cross-state rivals’ ineptitude to stay alive in the American League wild card race as rookie Martin Perez records his 10th win of the year.

In the final game he plays at Coors Field, Todd Helton homers in his first at-bat, a second-inning solo shot in Colorado’s 15-5 loss to Boston. The 40 year-old first baseman, who announced his retirement last week, has spent his entire 17-year career with the Rockies.

The Atlanta Braves clinch a spot in the postseason as one of the National League’s two wild cards with a 4 – 3 win over the Marlins on Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer off Mike Dunn in the bottom of the 9th. The game also marks the 22nd consecutive start by Kris Medlen which the Braves have won, matching a record set by two Hall of Famers: Carl Hubbell in 1936-1937 and Whitey Ford, whose streak lasted from 1950 to Yankees, with a two-year interruption for military service.

With Zack Greinke fanning 13 batters during his five-inning outing and the bullpen adding another seven, the Angels’ staff combines for 20 strikeouts in the team’s 5-4 victory over Seattle, tying the record for the most ever recorded in a nine-inning game. The Anaheim starter’s performance makes him the first hurler since 1920 to whiff 13 opponents in an outing that lasts less than six innings.

The Angels tie a major league record by striking out 20 opponents in a 5 – 4 win over the Mariners. Zack Greinke starts things off by fanning 13 in 5 innings, tying a modern record, and relievers Garrett Richards, Kevin Jepsen and Ernesto Frieri add seven more over the last four frames.

In the National League wild card race, St. Louis beats the Cubs, 3 – 2, on Rafael Furcal’s 8th-inning solo homer. They also pull within a game of the leaders, Atlanta, who are shut out, 3 – 0, by Washington. In the Cards’ win Albert Pujols’ streak of reaching base in 40 consecutive games is stopped with an 0 for 4 day.