ON THIS DATE
SEPT. 20 1902:
Chicago’s Jim Callaghan tossed the White Sox’s first no-hitter, beating Detroit 2-0.
1907: Pittsburgh’s Nicholas Maddox became the first Pirates pitcher to throw a no-hitter by defeating the Brooklyn Superbas, 2-1, at Exposition Park. Pirates player-manager Fred Clarke had the only two hits of the game, both off Elmer Stricklett. All three runs in the game were unearned. Brooklyn scored its run in the fourth, thanks to errors by Maddox and shortstop Honus Wagner. Maddox made a high throw over first baseman Harry Swacina’s head, allowing Emil Batch to reach base. Batch scored when Wagner threw away Al Burch’s ground ball.
1908: Frank Smith of the White Sox threw his second career no-hitter for a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia A’s.
1912: The Tigers snapped Joe Wood’s 16-game win streak with a 6-4 win over the Red Sox.
1958: Hoyt Wilhelm of the Orioles pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the N.Y. Yankees at Memorial Stadium, with the only run coming on a home run by Gus Triandos. 1968: Mickey Mantle hit his last home run in the major leagues, a solo shot against Boston’s Jim Lonborg. Mantle had 536 homers.
2008: Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 60th save in Los Angeles’ 7-3 victory over Texas.
2012: The Washington Nationals brought postseason baseball back to the nation’s capital for the first time since 1933, earning a playoff spot with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The city of Washington was last in the postseason 79 years ago, when player-manager Joe Cronin and the Senators lost to the New York Giants in five games in the World Series.
2013: Alex Rodriguez set a major league record with his 24th career grand slam, passing Lou Gehrig with a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning that sent New York Yankees to a 5-1 victory over San Francisco.
2017: Chris Sale struck out 13 to become the first AL pitcher in 18 years to reach the 300 mark, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-0.
2021: Jon Lester, St. Louis Cardinals, records his 200th win of his career with a 5-2 win over the Brewers.