Sept. 3
1917 _ Philadelphia’s Grover Cleveland Alexander went the distance in both games of the Phillies’ 5-0 and 9-3 sweep of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1947 _ Bill McCahan pitched a 3-0 no-hitter to give the Philadelphia Athletics a 3-0 win over Washington.
1947 _ The New York Yankees had 18 hits, all singles, in an 11-2 victory over Boston at Fenway Park. Tommy Henrich and Joe DiMaggio each had four hits.
1957 _ Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves recorded his 41st career shutout with an 8-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Spahn’s shutout set a major league record for left-handed pitchers.
1970 _ Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs asked to be kept out of the lineup, snapping his National League record of 1,117 consecutive games played. His record was broken in 1983 by Steve Garvey.
1981 _ The Boston Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners played the longest game in Fenway Park’s history, 19 innings, before the game was suspended with the score tied 7-7. The Mariners won 8-7 in 20 innings when the game resumed the next day.
1986 _ Billy Hatcher’s homer in the top of the 18th inning gave the Houston Astros an 8-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The two teams played 14 innings the day before and used a major league record 53 players in the game.
1990 _ Bobby Thigpen set a major league record with his 47th save in a 4-2 Chicago White Sox victory over Kansas City. Thigpen broke the record set by Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees in 1986.
2000 _ Kenny Lofton tied a major league record by scoring in his 18th straight game in the first inning of Cleveland’s 12-11, 13-inning victory over Baltimore. Red Rolfe set the record in 1939 for the New York Yankees.
2001 _ Bud Smith became the 16th rookie in modern history to throw a no-hitter and the second to do it to San Diego this season in St. Louis’ 4-0 win. Smith was making his 11th career start.
2006 _ Ryan Howard homered in his first three at-bats, leading Philadelphia to an 8-7 victory over Atlanta in the first game of a doubleheader. Howard raised his major league-leading total to 52 and set a record for second-year players.
2006 _ Albert Pujols homered in his first three at-bats, helping St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 6-3. Pujols, with 42 homers, reached 40 or more for the fourth straight season.
2007 _ Pedro Martinez completed his comeback from major shoulder surgery and quickly went into the record books, becoming the 15th pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters in his career. The New York Mets’ right-hander needed only two strikeouts to reach the mark. He fanned Aaron Harang swinging at an 87-mph fastball for the milestone as the Mets posted a 10-4 win over Cincinnati.
2007 _ Ichiro Suzuki homered in the third inning of Seattle’s 7-1 win over the New York Yankees to reach 200 hits for the seventh consecutive season, tying the Wade Boggs’ AL mark.
2008 _ Baseball’s first use of instant replay backed an onfield call of a home run for Alex Rodriguez during the ninth inning of the New York Yankees game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Third-base umpire Brian Runge signaled a home run after A-Rod’s towering, two-run shot off Troy Percival caromed off the catwalk behind the foul pole in left field. Rays catcher Dioner Navarro protested the call, bringing manager Joe Maddon out of the dugout. The umpires convened before leaving the field to check the replay on a monitor not far from the field. It took 2 minutes, 15 seconds to uphold the homer that gave the Yankees an 8-3 lead.
2009 _ Jorge Posada hit his 20th homer of the season and drove in four runs to help New York beat Toronto 7-5. Posada’s homer gave New York a major league-leading seven players with at least 20 _ the first time the Yankees have done that in team history. The seven 20-homer players matched a major league record set three times previously.
Today’s birthday: Matt Capps 28.
End Adv
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