BB On this Date ~ Events & Birthdays #2

1990 Bobby Thigpen, breaking the mark established by Dave Righetti with the Yankees in 1986, sets a major league record with his 47th save when he pitches a scoreless ninth inning in Chicago's 4-2 defeat of Kansas City at Comiskey Park. The White Sox reliever will save another ten games before the season ends, extending the record to 57.

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1994 With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Jackson Generals overcome a 1-0 deficit when Tom Nevers and Jeff Ball hit back-to-back homers at Mississippi's Smith-Wills Stadium. The dramatic decisive Game 5 victory over the Shreveport Captains enables the Astros' AA minor league farm club to capture the Texas League East championship series.

1995 In the Bronx, Tony Fernandez becomes the tenth Yankee to hit for the cycle when he goes 4-for 5 against Oakland. The shortstop will complete the unique feat with a double that will lead to scoring the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Bombers will suffer a 10-9 loss when Rickey Henderson goes deep in the top of the tenth frame.

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1996 Todd Stottlemyre and the Cardinals beat the Astros at Busch Stadium, 12-5. With his win, the Redbirds' right-hander and his dad Mel set the major league record with 259 victories by a father (164) and son (95), surpassing Dizzy and Steve Trout.

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2000 Kenny Lofton's first-inning run ties a 1939 major league record set by the Yankees' Red Rolfe, scoring in his eighteenth consecutive game. The speedy Indian outfielder, besides hitting the game-winning homer in the 13th, also steals five bases, tying Cleveland's single-game record set twice by Alex Cole, once in 1990 and then again in 1992.

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2001 In just his 11th start, Cardinal freshman hurler Bud Smith, throwing 134 pitches, no-hits the Padres at Qualcomm Stadium on Labor Day, 4-0. The 21-year-old southpaw becomes the 18th rookie to throw a no-hitter since 1900 to accomplish the feat.

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2002 By losing their 15th straight game at Shea Stadium, the Mets pass the dubious mark set by the 1911 Braves to establish a new National League record for consecutive losses at home. The Amazins' did not win one home game in August, finishing the month 0-13 in New York.

2002 Joaquin Benoit, in the Rangers' 7-1 victory at Camden Yards, pitches seven innings of one-hit ball in relief against the Orioles. The Texas reliever's performance is the longest save ever recorded in major league history.

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2006 In the opener of a doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia's Ryan Howard belts three home runs, bringing the first baseman's total to 52. The sophomore slugger, the 24th major leaguer to reach the milestone, becomes the first Phillies player to hit 50 homers, passing Ralph Kiner's 51 round-trippers for the Pirates in 1947 for the most homers hit by a second-year player in big-league history.

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2006 The Marlins, 11-31 in late May, become the first team since 1899 to reach a .500 record after being 20 games below the mediocre mark. Their 10-3 victory over the Brewers gets the team even at 68-68, placing the 'Fish' two games behind the Padres in the wild-card standings.

2007 Mets right-hander Pedro Martinez, making his first start of the season, whiffs Reds hurler Aaron Harang to become the 15th major league pitcher to record 3,000 career strikeouts. The three-time Cy Young winner has missed most of the season recovering from rotator cuff surgery.

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2007 With a home run against Yankees starter Roger Clemens, Ichiro Suzuki collects his 200th hit for the seventh consecutive year. The Mariner outfielder joins Wee Willie Keeler (Orioles and Brooklyn Grooms/Superbas, 1894-1901) and Wade Boggs (Red Sox, 1983-1989) as the third player to accomplish the feat and will tie Keeler's record of eight straight seasons if he reaches the milestone next year.

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2008 Yankee Alex Rodriguez's towering fly ball, which bounces off the Tropicana Field catwalk behind the foul pole in left field, is immediately ruled a home run by Brian Runge. The third base umpire's decision, disputed by Rays catcher Dioner Navarro, proves correct as the men in blue take 2 minutes and 15 seconds to review the video, becoming the first crew to use the new instant-replay system since its implementation last week.

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2008 Although the official attendance, based on tickets sold, is announced to be 11,211, fewer than 600 fans attend the Marlins game against Atlanta at Miami's Dolphin Stadium. In contention for most of the season, the Fish beat the Braves on the hot and humid afternoon in Florida, 5-3.

2009 Pedro Martinez, tossing seven innings of one-hit ball at Citizens Bank Park in the Phillies' 2-1 victory over the Giants, becomes just the tenth pitcher in major league history to win 100 games in both leagues. The right-hander compiled a 117-37 (.760) record pitching for Boston during his seven-year stint in the American League.

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2009 Jorge Posada's homer and four RBIs contribute to the Yankees' 7-5 victory over Toronto at the Rogers Centre. The Bronx backstop's round-tripper makes it the first time the Bronx Bombers have had seven 20-homer players, matching a major league record shared by 1996 Orioles, 2000 Blue Jays, and 2005 Rangers.

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2009 After starting 13 times with two different clubs, Pat Misch's team finally wins a game he starts when the Mets beat the Rockies, 8-3. The former Giants' starter, who earned the Coors Field victory for New York, had tied a dubious mark established over the 1993-94 seasons by Seattle's John Cummings for the longest winless streak endured by a team with the same starter on the mound.

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2010 Major League Baseball penalizes six players, both skippers and a coach, following an ugly brawl that occurred two days ago between the Nationals and Marlins in Miami, resulting from Chris Volstad throwing at Nyjer Morgan for the second time in the game. The Florida outfielder, who became a target after separating catcher Brett Hayes' shoulder in the previous contest, retaliated to being hit in the fourth by stealing two bases charges the mound after the sixth-inning incident, setting off the melee.

2010 Stephen Strasburg undergoes reconstructive elbow surgery where Dr. Lewis Yocum takes a piece of the ligament from the 22-year-old right-hander's left leg and transplants it into the rookie's pitching elbow. The 'Tommy John' surgery might keep the Nationals' much-heralded phenom out of the starting rotation until the 2012 season.

2011 Left-handed starter Tom Milone hits a home run on the first pitch he sees in the big leagues. The 24-year-old southpaw's three-run blast gives him a 5-0 lead at the time, but the rookie goes only 4.1 innings in his debut and doesn't get the win in the Nationals' 9-8 victory over New York.

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2011 George Kottaras, needing a two-bagger to become the first major leaguer to hit for the cycle this season, strokes an apparent triple but accomplishes the feat when the ball bounces off of Tal's Hill, a 20-degree angled incline located in centerfield, over the fence for an unexpected ground-rule double. The Brewers backstop also hit a solo homer in the fourth, a sixth-inning triple, and singled in the seventh in Milwaukee's 8-4 victory of Houston at Minute Maid Park.

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2012 The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, with its ballpark known as PNC Field in Moosic (PA) under renovations, finish the season, playing their entire 144-game schedule away from home. The International League (AAA) team will become unofficially known as the Empire State Yankees, using six different venues where all but twelve of their 'home' games take place in Upstate New York.

2012 The Nationals win their eighty-second game when they beat Chicago at home, 2-1, assuring the team of their first winning season since leaving Montreal to play in Washington. The transplanted team finished precisely .500 after their first year in the nation's capital, posting an 81-81 record in 2005.

 

2013 Max Scherzer's opportunity to become the second hurler to start a season with a 20-1 record ends when Jon Lester and the Red Sox beat the Tigers at Fenway Park, 2-1. Yankees right-hander Roger Clemens, who finished 20-3 in 2001, remains the only pitcher to open a campaign 20-1.

2013 The Pirates ensure their first non-losing campaign since 1992, when the team beats Milwaukee at Miller Park, 4-3. Travis Snider's ninth-inning pinch-hit home run brings the Bucs their eighty-first victory this season, a total the team hadn't reached in 21 years.

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2014 In the Red Sox' 9-4 victory at Yankee Stadium, Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts become the first Boston rookies to hit a home run in the same game at the Bronx ballpark in 62 years. In 1952, Dick Gernert and Faye Throneberry also accomplished the feat, providing the difference in the team's 3-1 win over the Bombers.

2015 Bryce Harper, thanks to being issued four bases-on-balls, scores four times and records an RBI without ever swinging his bat in Washington's 15-1 rout of the Braves at Nationals Park. The 22-year-old slugger from Las Vegas joins Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, and Larry Doby, who also were 0-for-0 and scored four runs without an official at-bat.

2020 Before their game against the Yankees at Citi Field, the Mets pay tribute to Tom Seaver by adding a spot of dirt to the right knee of their uniforms reminiscent of the result of the Hall of Fame right-hander's drop-and-drive delivery. Last night, the Hall of Fame announced the three-time Cy Young Award winner'' had died two days ago from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.

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9/4 BIRTHDAYS
1941 Ken Harrelson utility (MLB All Star; AL RBI leader 1968; KC A's, Boston Red Sox) and broadcaster (Boston Red Sox, NY Yankees, Chicago White Sox), born in Woodruff, South Carolina



1968 Mike Piazza HOF catcher (12 x MLB All-Star; 10 x Silver Slugger; LA Dodgers, NY Mets), born in Norristown, Pennsylvania


1970 Luis Lopez infielder (San Diego Padres), born in Cidra, Puerto Rico


1977 Sun-Woo Kim player, born in Incheon, South Korea


1980 Pat Neshekl player, born in Madison, Wisconsin

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FROM MLB's This Day in Baseball History+​

1906 The Highlanders beat the Boston Americans, 1-0, at Huntington Avenue Grounds, ending a run in which the team played five consecutive doubleheaders in six days. New York's overtime pays off when the team sweeps all of the twin bills, posting a 10-0 record during the streak.

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1913 In his major league debut, 22-year-old Hal Schwenk pitches 11 innings, giving up 12 hits, but earns a complete-game victory when St. Louis defeats the White Sox at Sportsman's Park, 5-4. The Browns' rookie southpaw will never again appear in a big-league game.

1916 Pitching his only game not wearing a Giant uniform, Reds' player-manager Christy Mathewson, beats his long-time nemesis Mordecai' Three Finger' Brown and the Cubs, 10-8. In the 25 contests, the two legends have faced one another, with Matty taking a 13-12 advantage in their final meeting by winning the last decision.

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1917 After starting both ends of yesterday's doubleheader, White Sox right-hander Red Faber throws a 13-6 complete-game victory against the Browns, making his third consecutive start for Chicago in two days. Zack Greinke becomes the next hurler to start three straight games in the same season by pitching the final game before the 2012 All-Star break for the Brewers after being ejected in the first inning the day before and then taking the mound to begin the second half of the season for the Brew Crew.

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1923 Sam Jones no-hits the A's, 2-0 at Shibe Park. The Yankee hurler does not strike out any Philadelphia batters, a feat not repeated until 1969, when Ken Holtzman becomes another pitcher to record a no-hitter without fanning a hitter.

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1924 At Braves Field, the Brooklyn Robins take a twin bill from Boston, 9-1 and 5-1, sweeping their fourth doubleheader on the road in four consecutive days. Before arriving in Boston, Brooklyn swept the Phillies in three straight twin bills, winning six times at Philadelphia's Baker. Bowl.

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1927 Pirate teammates Lloyd and Paul Waner become the first pair of brothers to both homer in the same game when they go deep in the team's 8-4 victory over Cincinnati at Redland Field. The siblings, who will also accomplish the feat in 1929 and 1938, each hit a bounce round-tripper.

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1928 The Braves start a streak of playing nine consecutive doubleheaders, establishing a major league record. Boston will drop 14 of the 18 contests played during the twin bill marathon, successively playing the Dodgers (2-2), Phillies (1-3), the Giants (0-8), and the Cubs (1-1).

1941 The Yankees, who will finish 17 games ahead of the second-place Red Sox, clinch their third straight pennant when they beat Boston at Fenway Park, 6-3. The victory marks the earliest date in baseball history that a team has captured a flag.

 

1957 Orioles' rookie right-hander Jerry Walker throws a four-hitter, blanking Washington in 10 innings, 1-0. The shutout is the 18-year-old bonus baby's first major league victory.

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1961 At Metropolitan Stadium, Joe Horlen makes his big league debut, hurling four innings of scoreless relief, getting the win in the White Sox's 9-5 victory over Minnesota. The 24-year-old rookie right-hander, a last-minute call-up, is forced to wear the only road jersey the club has available, one without a number.

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1966 The Dodgers become the first team to draw two million fans at home and two million on the road as 18,670 Crosley Field patrons watch Los Angeles beat their hometown Reds, 8-6.

1969 After thirty-one games, the third-longest consecutive game hitting streak in National League history ends when Dick Kelley and Gary Ross keeps Dodger Willie Davis hitless in a 3-0 loss to the Padres at San Diego Stadium. The LA center fielder, who goes 4-for-4 tomorrow, hit .435 in 124 at-bats during the span, including collecting at least one hit in every game the team played in August.

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1969 Trailing by three runs entering the top of the ninth, the Orioles quickly tie the score when their first three batters, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, and Brooks Robinson, hit consecutive solo home runs off Earl Wilson. The Birds score the eventual winning tally later in the frame and will beat the Tigers, 5-4.

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Brooks Homer
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1974 After Don Wilson pitched eight no-hit innings against the Reds, Astros' manager Preston Gomez pulls him from the game in favor of a pinch-hitter. Mike Cosgrove gives up a hit to Tony Perez in the ninth, and Houston loses, 2-1.

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1978 In his first major league at-bat, Dorian Boyland strikes out sitting on the bench. The Pirate rookie is removed with a 1-2 count when the Mets make a pitching change, and pinch-hitter Rennie Stennett takes the third strike.

1985 Following a three-homer performance last night, Gary Carter ties a major league record by hitting two solo round-trippers, becoming the 11th player in major league history to hit five home runs in two games. The future Hall of Fame catcher's offensive output, including a run-producing single, contributes to the Mets' 9-2 victory over the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium.

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1991 The Statistical Accuracy Committee re-defines a no-hit game as one ending after nine or more innings with one team failing to get a hit. The change removes 50 contests previously considered hitless, including Harvey Haddix's twelve perfect innings against the Braves in 1959 and Jim Maloney's 1-0 loss to the Mets in 11-innings 1965.

1991 Following commissioner Fay Vincent's recommendation, baseball's committee on statistical accuracy votes to eliminate the distinction of the number of games played in a league's schedule in determining the all-time home run mark hit in a season. The decision can't take away an asterisk because it never existed in the record books, but it does remove Babe Ruth's name, leaving the other Yankee outfielder, Roger Maris, as the undisputed home run champ with 61 he hit in 1961.

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1993 Jim Abbott, born without a right hand, no-hits the Indians at Yankee Stadium, 4-0, becoming the first pinstripe pitcher in a decade to throw a no-no. In the ninth inning, leadoff hitter Kenny Lofton is loudly booed by the fans after he fouls off a bunt in an attempt to make the one-handed pitcher field a ball.

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1993 With their 6-5 loss to the Reds, the Phillies set a new National League record by not being blanked in 151 straight games. The major league mark for avoiding a shutout is 308 consecutive contests, accomplished by the Yankees.

1995 Robin Ventura becomes the eighth player to hit two grand slams in the same game. The third baseman's blasts in the fourth and fifth innings power the White Sox past Texas at The Ballpark in Arlington, 14-3.

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1996 Babe Dahlgren, who replaced Lou Gehrig at first base to end the streak, dies in Arcadia, California. In the game, he goes 2-for-4, including a home run, in a 22-2 victory over the Tigers at Briggs Stadium.

1998 Defeating the White Sox, 11-6, the Yankees win their 100th game on the earliest date in major league history, besting the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 1954 Cleveland Indians by five days. The 1906 Cubs set the major league record for fewest contests to reach 100 victories, accomplishing the milestone in 132 games.

1999 The Reds set a National League record with nine homers when they rout the Phillies, 22-3. Eddie Taubensee (2), Greg Vaughn, Jeffrey Hammonds, Aaron Boone, Dimitri Young, Pokey Reese, Brian Johnson, and Mark Lewis all go yard for Cincinnati

 

2000 The Red Sox honor Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk. The New Hampshire resident, who played his first nine seasons with Boston, joins Bobby Doerr (1), Joe Cronin (4), Carl Yastrzemski (8), and Ted Williams (9) in having his number (27) be retired at Fenway.

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2002 In front of 55,528 fans at the Coliseum, the A's set an American League record by extending their winning streak to 20 consecutive games. After blowing an 11-run lead to the Royals, Scott Hatteberg hits a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Oakland the historic victory, 12-11.

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2004 San Diego retires the uniform #19 worn by future Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn, who spent twenty seasons with the team, compiling a .338 batting average en route to collecting 3,141 hits. 'Mr. Padre,' a 15-time All-Star, won eight batting titles while playing his entire career with the Friars.

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2006 With an 8-5 comeback victory over the Diamondbacks, the Marlins improve their record to 69-68. After an 11-31 start, Florida becomes the first club in big league history to have a winning record after falling 20 games under .500.

2006 In a 3-2 Astros loss at Citizens Bank Park, Charlton Jimerson, pinch-hitting for Roger Clemens, homers off Phillies' southpaw Cole Hamels. The sixth-inning blast to center field makes the Houston rookie the third player in franchise history to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat.

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2007 In the fifth inning of Florida's loss 4-3 to Washington, Miguel Cabrera singles off Shawn Hill to drive home Hanley Ramirez for his 500th career RBI. The Marlin third baseman reaches the milestone at the age of 24-year and 139 days, with only Hall of Famers Mel Ott (23, 74 days) and Ted Williams (24 years, 4 days) getting to the mark at a younger age.

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2007 Francisco Cordero establishes a new Milwaukee mark when he gets his 40th save, pitching a scoreless ninth inning in the Brewers' 5-3 win over Houston. The right-handed reliever surpasses the record previously shared by Dan Kolb (2004) and Derrick Turnbow (2005).

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2010 Jim Thome hits a pair of homers to pass Mark McGwire for eighth place on the all-time career list with 584. The Twins designated hitter's historic round-trippers, which he blasts in the third and fourth innings off Colby Lewis at Target Field, contribute to Minnesota's 12-4 victory over Texas.​

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2011 In the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bill Buckner, appearing as himself, is promptly thrown out of a shiva service because one of the mourners is a Red Sox fan who hasn't forgiven him for his infamous error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The former Boston first baseman redeems himself when he uses his baseball skills to catch a falling baby, who has ricocheted off the firefighters' rescue net after being thrown out of a burning building.

2012 An unofficial rain delay occurs in Toronto when the retractable roof of the Rogers Centre closes so slowly that the fans have to run for cover as the stands and field get soaked with rain that begins to fall during the middle of the sixth inning. Surprisingly, there have been six official rain delays in the Rogers Centre, formerly known as the Skydome.

2012 Yadier Molina collects his 1,000th career hit, an infield single in the second inning of the Cardinals' 5-1 victory against New York at Busch Stadium. The 31-year-old popular Redbird backstop, who enjoys a 2-for-3 night at the plate, will finish the season with a .279 career batting average​

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2013 Matt Adams becomes the seventh major leaguer to hit two home runs in extra innings of the same game when he goes deep twice in the Cardinals' 5-4 victory over Cincinnati. The Cardinal first baseman, who entered the game in the fourth inning, hits solo homers in the top of the 14th and 16th frames, with his second blast proving to be the difference in the Great American Ball Park contest.

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2013 In a 20-4 rout of the Tigers at Fenway Park, the Red Sox hit eight home runs, matching a franchise record last accomplished 35 years ago. Boston homers in six of eight frames they bat, with Mike Napoli, Ryan Lavarnway, Daniel Nava, Will Middlebrooks, David Ortiz (2), Jacoby Ellsbury, and Stephen Drew all going deep in the Fenway Park contest.

2017 Joining Reds utilityman Scooter Gennett as the second player to accomplish the feat this season, J.D. Martinez becomes the 18th major leaguer to hit four home runs in one game , going deep in the top of the ninth in the Diamondbacks' 13-0 rout of the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. The Arizona outfielder, acquired in a trade from the Tigers in July, had one more home run than the opponent's total amount of hits in the contest.

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2021 After blowing a nine-run lead in a scheduled seven-inning contest, the Mets prevail, 11-9, beating the hometown Nationals, thanks to Francisco Lindor's two-run homer in the ninth. En route to their sixth consecutive victory, New York avoids setting a franchise mark for squandering the largest lead in a defeat, having lost previous games after being ahead by eight runs.

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