Aug. 23
1906 — On their way to the American League pennant, the Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators 4-1 for their 19th straight victory.
1931 — Lefty Grove of the Philadelphia Athletics was beaten 1-0 by Dick Coffman of the St. Louis Browns, snapping a personal 16-game winning streak. A misjudged fly ball by outfielder Jim Moore led to the winning run.
1936 — In his first major-league start, 17-year-old Bob Feller struck out 15 Browns as the Cleveland Indians beat St. Louis 4-1. Feller gave up six hits and allowed four walks.
1952 — During a game against the Cardinals at the Polo Grounds, the Giants’ Bob Elliott complained and kicked dirt arguing over a called strike. Umpire Augie Donatelli ejected him from the game. Bobby Hoffman finished the at-bat by being called out on strikes and was also ejected by Donatelli for arguing the call.
1982 — Seattle pitcher Gaylord Perry was ejected in the seventh inning for allegedly throwing a spitball against the Red Sox. It was the first ejection for Perry, who was subsequently suspended for 10 days.
1989 — Rick Dempsey’s leadoff homer in the 22nd inning gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a 1-0 victory against the Montreal Expos in the second-longest shutout in major league history.
1992 — There were no hits in Clearwater’s 1-0 victory over Winter Haven in the Class A Florida State League. In what appeared to be the first professional game in 40 years without a hit, Andy Carter and the Clearwater Phillies beat Scott Bakkum and the Winter Haven Red Sox. The only run scored in the seventh inning on a pair of walks and a pair of sacrifice bunts.
1998 — Barry Bonds became the first player in major league history to hit 400 home runs and steal 400 bases when he homered off Florida’s Kirt Ojala in the second inning of San Francisco’s game at Florida. Bonds, who hit his 26th homer of the season, had 438 steals.
2001 — Randy Johnson struck out 16 in seven innings to become the first pitcher to strike out 300 in four straight seasons, only to see his eight-game winning streak end as Kevin Young’s two-run homer led the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-1 victory over Arizona.
2006 — The Kansas City Royals became the second team in major league history to have a 10-run first inning and not win the game. At Kauffman Stadium, the home team took a 10-1 lead, but were defeated by the Indians in 10 innings, 15-13.
2009 — Eric Bruntlett turned an unassisted triple play to finish Philadelphia’s wild 9-7 victory over the New York Mets.
2017 — Dodgers lefty Rich Hill lost his perfect game on an error in the ninth inning, then lost his no-hitter on a leadoff home run in the 10th by Josh Harrison that sent the Pittsburgh Pirates over Los Angeles 1-0. Jordy Mercer led off the ninth with a sharp grounder that smacked off third baseman Logan Forsythe’s glove for an error. Hill retired the next three batters. Hill returned for the 10th and Harrison sent his 99th pitch into the first row of seats in left field, just out of the reach of left fielder Curtis Granderson. Hill struck out 10 without a walk.
2017 — Zach Britton’s AL-record run of converting 60 straight save attempts ended, when the Baltimore closer blew a two-run lead and failed to get out of the ninth inning in a game the Orioles ultimately won 8-7 over Oakland in the 12th.
_____
Aug. 24
1905 — The Chicago Cubs beat the Phillies at Philadelphia 2-1 in 20 innings behind the complete game pitching of Ed Reulbach.
1940 — Outfielder Ted Williams pitched the last two innings for the Boston Red Sox against Detroit at Fenway Park. He allowed one run on three hits, but struck out Rudy York on three pitches. The Tigers, behind Tommy Bridges, won 12-1.
1951 — St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck gave over 1,000 fans behind his dugout YES and NO placards, allowing them to have a part in the strategy of the game. The fans flashed the cards when asked by the coaches what the Browns should do and it worked as St. Louis beat the Philadelphia Athletics 5-3.
1971 — Ernie Banks hit the 512th and final home run of his career as the Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-4. Banks’ shot came off Jim McGlothin in the first inning.
1975 — Ed Halicki of San Francisco pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the New York Mets to lead the Giants to a sweep of a doubleheader.
1989 — After six months of denial, defense and delay, Cincinnati manager Pete Rose was banned for life from baseball by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for gambling. Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader and holder of 19 major-league records, signed a five-page agreement with Giamatti in which he agreed to a lifetime penalty but did not admit to gambling on baseball.
2001 — Colorado starting pitcher Jason Jennings went 3-for-5 in his major league debut, including a homer and an RBI single, while giving up five hits and striking out eight in a complete game shut out over the Mets, 10-0. The right-hander became the first pitcher in modern history to throw a shutout and hit a homer in his first game.
2003 — Ramon Hernandez and Miguel Tejada hit grand slams as Oakland routed Toronto 17-2.
2008 — Francisco Rodriguez earned his 50th save, striking out two in a scoreless ninth inning to secure the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-3 victory over Minnesota.
2012 — Adrian Beltre of Texas hit for the cycle in an 8-0 win over Minnesota.
2013 — Adam Eaton hit a go-ahead double in the 18th inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks outlasted the Philadelphia Phillies 12-7 in a record-setting, marathon game for both clubs. The teams combined to use 20 pitchers in a contest that ended at 2:12 a.m. and took 7 hours, 6 minutes — setting a mark for length of game for both teams.
2013 — Detroit’s Max Scherzer outpitched Matt Harvey, striking out 11 and hitting a stunning RBI double that sent the Tigers to a 3-0 victory over the New York Mets. Scherzer (19-1) joined Rube Marquard in 1912 and Roger Clemens in 2001 as the only major league pitchers to win 19 of their first 20 decisions in a season.
2016 — David Ortiz became the oldest player ever to hit 30 homers in a season, but the Tampa Bay Rays came back from a three-run deficit to beat Boston 4-3 in 11 innings. The 40-year-old designated hitter connected for a two-run home run off starting pitcher Matt Andriese during the first inning.
_____
Aug. 25
1922 — In one of the wildest games ever played, the Cubs beat the Phillies 26-23. The Cubs led 25-6 in the fourth inning, but held on as the game ended with the Phillies leaving the bases loaded.
1934 — Detroit’s Schoolboy Rowe won his 16th consecutive game with a 4-2 triumph over the Washington Senators. Rowe singled in the winning run in the ninth inning.
1952 — Detroit’s Virgil Trucks pitched his second no-hitter of the season, a 1-0 gem over New York at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers committed two errors and Trucks walked one batter and struck out eight. It was the last victory of the season for Trucks, who finished with a 5-19 record.
1967 — Dean Chance of Minnesota pitched his second no-hitter of the month, defeating the Indians 2-1. Chance pitched an abbreviated five perfect innings against Boston on Aug. 6 for a 2-0 victory.
1972 — Philadelphia Ken Reynolds tied a National League record with his 12th consecutive loss, 6-1 to Cincinnati, from the beginning of the season.
1979 — California’s Don Baylor tied a club record by driving in eight runs during a 24-2 rout of the Toronto Blue Jays. The 24 runs and 26 hits set Angel records.
1985 — New York’s Dwight Gooden became the youngest pitcher ever to win 20 games with a 9-3 triumph over the San Diego Padres. Gooden at age 20 years, nine months, and nine days was one month younger that Bob Feller who won 20 games in 1939.
1998 — Toronto’s Roger Clemens struck out 18 and won his 11th straight decision as he pitched a 3-0 three-hit victory over the Kansas City Royals.
2004 — Jeff DaVanon became the first Angels player in 13 years to hit for the cycle in Anaheim’s 21-6 rout of Kansas City.
2008 — Brett Myers, J.C. Romero and Clay Condrey combined on a 13-hit shutout in Philadelphia’s 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
2010 — The Colorado Rockies overcame a nine-run deficit, matching the biggest rally in team history and stunning the Atlanta Braves 12-10 on Troy Tulowitzki’s go-ahead single in the eighth inning. Down 10-1 in the third inning, the Rockies chipped away against the NL East leader before taking the lead with four runs in the eighth.
2010 — The Reds blew a nine-run lead, then regrouped and rallied past the Giants, 12-11, on Joey Votto’s tiebreaking single in the 12th inning. The NL Central-leading Reds took a 10-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth before San Francisco came back with a six-run burst in the eighth to take an 11-10 lead.
2011 — The New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to hit three grand slams in a game, with Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson connecting in a 22-9 romp over the Oakland Athletics.
2017 — Rhys Hoskins hit another homer and Cesar Hernandez ripped a three-run triple to help Philadelphia to a 7-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Hoskins has put on a tremendous power display. He has nine homers and 21 RBIs in 16 games. No player in major league history had reached nine homers that quickly.
2020 Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito no-hits the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0.
