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Friday, August 29
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Baseball Today
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SCOREBOARD
Friday, Aug. 29
L.A. Dodgers at Arizona, 9:40 p.m. The second-place Dodgers try to make up ground on the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.
STARS
Thursday
- Cristian Guzman, Nationals, became the second player to hit for the cycle since the franchise moved to Washington, driving in three in an 11-2 rout of the slumping Dodgers.
- Jason Giambi, Yankees, came off the bench to hit a tying two-run homer in the seventh and the winning single in the ninth of a 3-2 victory over Boston.
- Ty Wigginton, Astros, hit a pair of solo homers in a 3-2 win over the Reds.
- Edwin Jackson, Rays, carried a shutout into the eighth inning and departed after allowing one run and six hits in a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays.
- Francisco Rodriguez, Angels, pitched a scoreless ninth in a 7-5 win over the Rangers for his 51st save in 56 chances, six short of Bobby Thigpen's major league record set in 1990.
PAGING DR. ANDREWS
Josh Beckett was scratched again from a scheduled start, and the Boston ace plans to have his ailing right elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews. A serious injury to Beckett would be a major blow to Boston, trying to repeat as World Series champions. Beckett hasn't pitched since Aug. 17, when he reported numbness and tingling in his right arm.
BAMBINO TO GIAMBINO
Babe Ruth hit a home run to help the Yankees open their ballpark in the Bronx by sweeping a four-game series from Boston in April 1923. Jason Giambi homered and drove in the winning run in the ninth inning of New York's 3-2 win over Boston on Thursday, the last regular-season game between the two teams at historic Yankee Stadium.
BRAVE NEW WORLD
A gray, rectangular box on the wall of the umpires dressing room at Wrigley Field containing a phone and a high definition TV monitor ushered instant replay into major league baseball. An umpiring crew chief can pick up the phone and ask a replay center in New York to send him all available feeds so he can review boundary calls, such as if a ball was fair or foul or cleared the outfield wall. Officials hope the replays are completed in about 2 1/2 minutes.
GOING CYCLING
Cristian Guzman became the second Nationals player to hit for the cycle when he tripled in the eighth inning against the Dodgers. Guzman hit a solo homer in the first inning, was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double in the second, and added a run-scoring double in the sixth. Brad Wilkerson also hit for the cycle on April 6, 2005. It was the eighth cycle in franchise history, including the team's days in Montreal. Wilkerson did it twice, including once as a member of the Expos.
FLOUNDERING FISH
The Marlins dropped to 10-15 in August after a 4-2 loss to Atlanta, haven't won two games in a row this month and fell six games behind the idle New York Mets in the NL East. Florida begins a critical three-game series at home against the Mets on Friday.
LOSERS NO LONGER
The Rays (81-51) assured they will finish no worse than .500 for the first time in franchise history after a 3-2 win over Toronto. Tampa Bay improved to an AL-best 49-19 at home after taking two of three from the Blue Jays, and is 11-0-1 in series since the All-Star break. The Rays also pushed their lead to 4 1/2 games over Boston in the AL East.
DOUBLE THE FUN
Pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki doubled in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning for a 3-2 win over Minnesota, the first time the Athletics have won back-to-back games since July 10-11. It was just the 11th win since the All-Star break for Oakland, which took two of three from the Angels to start the week for its first series in win 13 tries.
SPEAKING
"Hopefully getting past these barriers, mentally and numbers-wise, we can put that in the past and become the organization we're envisioned on becoming.'' - Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, after the Rays assured they would finish at least .500 for the first time in franchise history.
SEASONS
Aug. 29
1918 - The Chicago Cubs, behind the pitching of Lefty Tyler, clinched the National League pennant with a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
1934 - The Philadelphia A's ended Schoolboy Rowe's 16-game winning streak with a 13-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
1965 - San Francisco's Willie Mays broke Ralph Kiner's National League record with his 17th home run of the month in an 8-3 triumph over the New York Mets. Kiner had 16 homers in September of 1949. Mays hit a tape measure shot off Jack Fisher.
1967 - Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A's hit three triples in a 9-8, 10-inning loss to the Cleveland Indians.
1971 - Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves knocked in his 100th run of the season, giving him the National League record of 11 seasons with 100 or more RBIs.
1977 - Lou Brock stole base No. 893, breaking Ty Cobb's modern record for career stolen bases.
1985 - Don Baylor of the New York Yankees set an American League record when he was hit by a pitch for the 190th time in his career. Baylor was struck by California Angels pitcher Kirk McCaskill in the first inning, breaking the old mark of 189 set by Minnie Minoso.
1993 - George Brett recorded his 200th stolen base in Kansas City's 5-4, 12-inning victory over Boston to join Willie Mays and Hank Aaron as the only players with 3,000 hits, 300 homers and 200 steals.
1995 - Pittsburgh's Paul Wagner, the NL leader in losses, lost his no-hitter against Colorado on an infield single with two out in ninth.
2000 - Anaheim's Darin Erstad went 3-for-5 to reach 200 hits faster than any player in 65 years as the Angels defeated Toronto 9-4. Ducky Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals did it in 131 games in 1935.
2002 - Mark Bellhorn became the first player in NL history to hit a home run in the same inning from both sides of the plate, in the fourth inning of the Chicago Cubs' 13-10 win over Milwaukee.
2004 - Albert Pujols hit his 40th home run and reached 100 RBIs for the fourth straight season to help St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 4-0. He's the fourth player to start his major league career with four straight seasons with at least 100 RBIs, joining Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
Today's birthdays: Aaron Rowand 31; Roy Oswalt 31; Henry Blanco 37.
Friday, August 29
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Baseball Today
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCOREBOARD
Friday, Aug. 29
L.A. Dodgers at Arizona, 9:40 p.m. The second-place Dodgers try to make up ground on the NL West-leading Diamondbacks.
STARS
Thursday
- Cristian Guzman, Nationals, became the second player to hit for the cycle since the franchise moved to Washington, driving in three in an 11-2 rout of the slumping Dodgers.
- Jason Giambi, Yankees, came off the bench to hit a tying two-run homer in the seventh and the winning single in the ninth of a 3-2 victory over Boston.
- Ty Wigginton, Astros, hit a pair of solo homers in a 3-2 win over the Reds.
- Edwin Jackson, Rays, carried a shutout into the eighth inning and departed after allowing one run and six hits in a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays.
- Francisco Rodriguez, Angels, pitched a scoreless ninth in a 7-5 win over the Rangers for his 51st save in 56 chances, six short of Bobby Thigpen's major league record set in 1990.
PAGING DR. ANDREWS
Josh Beckett was scratched again from a scheduled start, and the Boston ace plans to have his ailing right elbow examined by Dr. James Andrews. A serious injury to Beckett would be a major blow to Boston, trying to repeat as World Series champions. Beckett hasn't pitched since Aug. 17, when he reported numbness and tingling in his right arm.
BAMBINO TO GIAMBINO
Babe Ruth hit a home run to help the Yankees open their ballpark in the Bronx by sweeping a four-game series from Boston in April 1923. Jason Giambi homered and drove in the winning run in the ninth inning of New York's 3-2 win over Boston on Thursday, the last regular-season game between the two teams at historic Yankee Stadium.
BRAVE NEW WORLD
A gray, rectangular box on the wall of the umpires dressing room at Wrigley Field containing a phone and a high definition TV monitor ushered instant replay into major league baseball. An umpiring crew chief can pick up the phone and ask a replay center in New York to send him all available feeds so he can review boundary calls, such as if a ball was fair or foul or cleared the outfield wall. Officials hope the replays are completed in about 2 1/2 minutes.
GOING CYCLING
Cristian Guzman became the second Nationals player to hit for the cycle when he tripled in the eighth inning against the Dodgers. Guzman hit a solo homer in the first inning, was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double in the second, and added a run-scoring double in the sixth. Brad Wilkerson also hit for the cycle on April 6, 2005. It was the eighth cycle in franchise history, including the team's days in Montreal. Wilkerson did it twice, including once as a member of the Expos.
FLOUNDERING FISH
The Marlins dropped to 10-15 in August after a 4-2 loss to Atlanta, haven't won two games in a row this month and fell six games behind the idle New York Mets in the NL East. Florida begins a critical three-game series at home against the Mets on Friday.
LOSERS NO LONGER
The Rays (81-51) assured they will finish no worse than .500 for the first time in franchise history after a 3-2 win over Toronto. Tampa Bay improved to an AL-best 49-19 at home after taking two of three from the Blue Jays, and is 11-0-1 in series since the All-Star break. The Rays also pushed their lead to 4 1/2 games over Boston in the AL East.
DOUBLE THE FUN
Pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki doubled in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning for a 3-2 win over Minnesota, the first time the Athletics have won back-to-back games since July 10-11. It was just the 11th win since the All-Star break for Oakland, which took two of three from the Angels to start the week for its first series in win 13 tries.
SPEAKING
"Hopefully getting past these barriers, mentally and numbers-wise, we can put that in the past and become the organization we're envisioned on becoming.'' - Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, after the Rays assured they would finish at least .500 for the first time in franchise history.
SEASONS
Aug. 29
1918 - The Chicago Cubs, behind the pitching of Lefty Tyler, clinched the National League pennant with a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
1934 - The Philadelphia A's ended Schoolboy Rowe's 16-game winning streak with a 13-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
1965 - San Francisco's Willie Mays broke Ralph Kiner's National League record with his 17th home run of the month in an 8-3 triumph over the New York Mets. Kiner had 16 homers in September of 1949. Mays hit a tape measure shot off Jack Fisher.
1967 - Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A's hit three triples in a 9-8, 10-inning loss to the Cleveland Indians.
1971 - Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves knocked in his 100th run of the season, giving him the National League record of 11 seasons with 100 or more RBIs.
1977 - Lou Brock stole base No. 893, breaking Ty Cobb's modern record for career stolen bases.
1985 - Don Baylor of the New York Yankees set an American League record when he was hit by a pitch for the 190th time in his career. Baylor was struck by California Angels pitcher Kirk McCaskill in the first inning, breaking the old mark of 189 set by Minnie Minoso.
1993 - George Brett recorded his 200th stolen base in Kansas City's 5-4, 12-inning victory over Boston to join Willie Mays and Hank Aaron as the only players with 3,000 hits, 300 homers and 200 steals.
1995 - Pittsburgh's Paul Wagner, the NL leader in losses, lost his no-hitter against Colorado on an infield single with two out in ninth.
2000 - Anaheim's Darin Erstad went 3-for-5 to reach 200 hits faster than any player in 65 years as the Angels defeated Toronto 9-4. Ducky Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals did it in 131 games in 1935.
2002 - Mark Bellhorn became the first player in NL history to hit a home run in the same inning from both sides of the plate, in the fourth inning of the Chicago Cubs' 13-10 win over Milwaukee.
2004 - Albert Pujols hit his 40th home run and reached 100 RBIs for the fourth straight season to help St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 4-0. He's the fourth player to start his major league career with four straight seasons with at least 100 RBIs, joining Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
Today's birthdays: Aaron Rowand 31; Roy Oswalt 31; Henry Blanco 37.
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