ON THIS DATE
SEPT. 18
1903: Philadelphia’s Chick Fraser pitched a 10-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader. The Cubs won the opener 6-5. Fraser struck out five and walked four. Peaches Graham, normally a catcher, was the loser in his only major league decision.
1908: Bob Rhoads of the Indians pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox for a 2-1 victory in Cleveland.
1930: New York pitcher Red Ruffing hit two home runs as the Yankees edged the St. Louis Browns 7-6 in 10 innings. 1954: The Cleveland Indians clinched the American League pennant with a 3-2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.
1963: The New York Mets lost their last game at the Polo Grounds -- 5-1 to the
Philadelphia Phillies before a crowd of 1,752.
1968: Ray Washburn threw a 2-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry tossed a no-hitter against Washburn’s St. Louis Cardinals. 1980: Minnesota’s Gary Ward hit for the cycle in a 9-8 loss at Milwaukee. It was Ward’s 14th career game and the home run was his first in the major leagues. The Brewers won the game in the bottom of the ninth on Gorman Thomas’ two-out two-run homer.
1984: The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League East Division with a 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, making the Tigers the fourth team in major league history to lead from start to finish. The other three teams were the 1923 New York Giants, 1927 New
York Yankees and the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.
1984: Montreal’s Tim Raines became the first player in major league history with four consecutive seasons of 70 or more stolen bases by swiping four in the Expos’ 7-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
1985: Boston catcher Rich Gedman hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs as the Red Sox rout the Toronto Blue Jays, 13-1.
1987: Detroit’s Darrell Evans became the first 40-year-old player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season as the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6.
1996: Roger Clemens equaled his own major league record, fanning 20 batters and pitching a four-hitter to lead Boston over the Detroit Tigers 4-0. 2003: Atlanta clinched its 12th straight division title when second-place Florida was mathematically eliminated from the NL East race after a 5-4 loss to Philadelphia. The record title streak started in 1991, when the Braves won the NL West. They moved to the East Division in 1994 and trailed Montreal by six games when the strike stopped the season in August.
2006: The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run homer in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres.
2011: Erick Aybar went 4 for 4, with four extra-base hits and tied a franchise record by scoring five runs, leading the Los Angeles Angels to an 11-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. 27-47