This date in baseball
1913 Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators finished the season with 36 victories by virtue of a 1-0 decision over the Philadelphia A’s.
1915 The Philadelphia Phillies clinched their first National League pennant, beating the Boston Braves 5-0 behind Grover Alexander’s one-hitter.
1954 Willie Mays made his famous over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz’s long drive to center field and pinch-hitter Dusty Rhodes homered off Bob Lemon in the 10th inning to lead the New York Giants to a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the World Series.
1963 John Paciorek of the Houston Colt .45s, in his only major league appearance, went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored against the New York Mets. A back injury ended his baseball career the next season.
1976 John Montefusco of the San Francisco Giants pitched a 9-0 no-hitter over the Braves in Atlanta.
1983 Mike Warren of the Oakland A’s pitched a no-hitter to beat the Chicago White Sox 3-0.
1986 Minnesota’s Bert Blyleven broke Robin Roberts’ 1956 record of 46 home run pitches in a season when he gave up a two-out, third-inning home run to Cleveland rookie Jay Bell. It was the first major league pitch Bell had seen. Despite giving up two more home runs, Blyleven was the winner when the Twins rallied in the eighth for a 6-5 victory.
1986 Chicago Cubs rookie Greg Maddux defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 8-3 in Philadelphia. The losing pitcher was his brother, Mike, also a rookie. It was the first time brothers faced each other as rookie pitchers.
1996 Brady Anderson of the Baltimore Orioles became the 14th player to reach the 50-home run mark in a 4-1 loss at Toronto. Anderson’s previous season high was 21.
2001 Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki set the major league rookie record for hits in a season but the Mariners fell to Oakland 8-4. Suzuki got his 234th hit, breaking the previous rookie mark set by Shoeless Joe Jackson with Cleveland in 1911.
2011 The Tampa Bay Rays clinched the American League wild card with a stunning rally, overcoming a late seven-run deficit and then beating the New York Yankees 8-7 on Evan Longoria’s home run in the 12th inning. The Rays’ victory came four minutes after Boston blew a one-run lead in the ninth at Baltimore and lost 4-3. The Red Sox held a ninegame lead over the Rays in early September. Boston became the first team to miss the postseason after leading by as many as nine games for a playoff spot entering September.
2011 Chris Carpenter and St. Louis completed one of the more remarkable comebacks in baseball history, clinching the NL wild card with an 8-0 victory over Houston and a later loss by Atlanta. The Cardinals got their playoff spot when the Braves fell to Philadelphia 4-3 in 13 innings. St. Louis trailed Atlanta by 10 1 /2 games on Aug. 25. The Cardinals won 23 of their last 31 games.
2013 On the last day of the season, Miami’s Henderson Alvarez pitched one of baseball’s most bizarre no-hitters. Alvarez celebrated in the on-deck circle when the Marlins score on a two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0.