September 30

All 15 Major League Baseball games are played simultaneously today as the season is scheduled to conclude, but the day begins with two division races still to be decided as the top two teams are tied in both the NL Central and the NL West. All four teams involved are winners, however, forcing an unprecedented two one-game playoffs tomorrow. Charlie Blackmon hits for the cycle as the Rockies pound the Nationals, 12 – 0, and the Dodgers crush the Giants, 15 – 0, setting up a meeting between the two teams at Dodger Stadium. In the NL Central, the Brewers also win big, 11 – 0 over the Tigers, and the Cubs complete the quartet with a 10 – 5 win over the Cardinals after coming back from an early deficit; those two teams will meet at Wrigley Field to decide who will post the best record in the NL, and who will be left to host the Wild Card Game against the loser of the other playoff.

Following the Angels’ last game of the season, manager Mike Scioscia announces he is stepping down after 19 years at the helm, joining Toronto’s John Gibbons, who made a similar announcement a few days earlier. Iconic Twins player Joe Mauer, who makes a token appearance at catcher today for the first time since 2013 before being pulled form the game, also appears to have played his last game.

2017 – Andrew Romine of the Tigers becomes the 5th player to play all nine positions in a game, doing so on the road against the Twins. He only spends a third of an inning as the catcher – the only position he had never played before – but still manages to allow a passed ball. As a pitcher, however, he retires the only batter he faces, Miguel Sano, with the Tigers hanging on to a 3 – 2 lead in the bottom of the 8th. That will be the final score, as the Tigers get a rare win to close an awful month of September that saw them go 6-23.

2016 – Carlos Rodon of the White Sox ties an American League record by striking out the first seven Twins batters he faces in a 7 – 3 win. Joe Cowley, another White Sox pitcher, had set the record back on May 28, 1986. For Minnesota, it is a team-record 103rd loss as they limp towards the end of a wretched season.

Toronto clinches its first division title since 1993 by routing the Orioles, 15 – 2, in the first game of a doubleheader. Marcus Stroman pitches 8 innings for the win, continuing his remarkable comeback from a spring training injury, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Justin Smoak hit homers and Ryan Goins has five hits in an offensive display typical of the Jays’ season. The Orioles do come back to win the now meaningless second game, 8 – 1.

The Cardinals clinch the NL Central title and a 100-win season when they win the nitecap of a doubleheader with Pittsburgh, 11 – 1. Tyler Lyons is the winner in a spot start, while Jason Heyward keys the offense with a grand slam. The Pirates had pulled to within three games by winning the opener, 8 – 2, behind Gerrit Cole’s 19th win and a grand slam by Francisco Cervelli. The Pirates will now host the Wild Card Game for the third straight season. The Cards get even more good news when ace Adam Wainwright pitches an inning in relief in the opener, returning to action from a torn Achilles tendon a good four months ahead of schedule.

The Mets extend manager Terry Collins’ contract for another two years, adding a club option for 2016. During his three-year tenure with New York, the 64 year-old skipper, who has also managed the Astros and Angels, has guided the team to a 225-261 record, the lowest winning percentage (.463) of his major league managerial career.

2014 – In their first postseason appearance in 29 years, the Royals come out on top of a wild and crazy Wild Card Game, 9 – 8, in 12 innings over the Athletics. Oakland takes early leads of 2 – 0 and 7 – 3, thanks to a pair of homers and 5 RBIs by DH Brandon Moss, but the Royals come back twice, tying the game at 7 with 3 runs in the 8th and one in the bottom of the 9th. In the 12th, Oakland takes another lead when Alberto Callaspo drives in Josh Reddick from third base with a single, but the Royals come back one final time. Eric Hosmer triples off CF Sam Fuld’s glove with one out, then scores the tying run when Christian Colon singles to third base. After a second out, Colon steals second – the Royals’ seventh stolen base of the game, a postseason record – and Salvador Perez singles down the third-base line to drive him in and end the game, sending Kauffman Stadium into a frenzy.

The Cubs fire manager Dale Sveum one day after the end of a second straight disappointing season in which they lost 96 games after losing 101 in 2012.