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Baseball Today
Saturday, Sept. 5
San Francisco at Milwaukee (4:10 p.m. EDT). All-Star right-hander Matt Cain (12-4, 2.50 ERA) faces Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo (12-10, 3.56 ERA) in the second game of the weekend series. Cain is 0-2 with a 3.10 ERA in his last seven starts.
STARS Thursday
• Jorge Posada, Yankees, hit his 20th homer of the season and drove in four runs to help New York beat Toronto 7-5 for its seventh straight win.
• Pedro Martinez, Phillies, tossed seven impressive innings to outpitch Tim Lincecum and lead Philadelphia to a 2-1 victory over San Francisco.
• David Wright and Pat Misch, Mets. Wright drove in three runs and Misch pitched seven solid innings to earn his first major league win as New York beat Colorado 8-3.
• Jon Garland, Dodgers, faced his former team three days after they traded him and retired the last 14 batters he faced as Los Angeles beat Arizona 4-2.
• Hanley Ramirez, Marlins, hit a tying, pinch-hit single and scored the go-ahead run in his first game since teammate Dan Uggla publicly challenged his effort, lifting Florida to an 8-3 win over Atlanta.
SPEAKING
“It’s ridiculous how nasty his stuff still is. When you watch him, it’s obvious he knows what he’s doing out there.” — San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum on Pedro Martinez, who tossed seven impressive innings to outpitch the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner in the Philadelphia’s 2-1 victory.
SEASONS Sept. 5
1908 — Brooklyn’s Nap Rucker pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against Boston. Rucker struck out 14 and walked none.
1918 — Babe Ruth pitched a six-hitter as the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 in the opening game of the World Series. The Series was started early due to World War I.
1954 — Roswell’s Joe Bauman of the Longhorn League hit three home runs to give him 72 for the season. Bauman never made it to the majors.
1955 — Brooklyn pitcher Don Newcombe connected for his seventh homer of the season for a National League record for home runs by a pitcher. The Dodgers, behind Newcombe’s power and 20th win, beat the Phillies 11-4.
1971 — J.R. Richard tied Karl Spooner’s major league record by striking out 15 San Francisco Giants in his first major league game as the Houston Astros beat the Giants.
1982 — Roy Smalley hit a pair of three-run homers, one from each side of the plate, as the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 18-7.
1998 — Mark McGwire became the third player in baseball history to reach 60 home runs, as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-0. He joined Babe Ruth and Roger Maris with 60 homers in a single season.
2001 — Roger Clemens became the second player in major league history to win 19 of his first 20 decisions, leading the New York Yankees over Toronto 4-3.
2002 — Alex Rodriguez became the fifth player in major league history to record successive 50-homer seasons, hitting two in Texas’ 11-2 rout of Baltimore. Rodriguez, who hit 52 homers last season, joined Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr.
2003 — Mike Maroth became the first major league pitcher in 23 years to lose 20 games in a season when Detroit lost to Toronto 8-6. Maroth (6-20) allowed eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings. Oakland’s Brian Kingman went 8-20 in 1980.
2006 — For the first time in more than three decades, there were seven shutouts in the major leagues on one day. It was the most shutouts on one day since there were a record eight on June 4, 1972, when 16 games were played. Thirteen games were played.
2007 — Alex Rodriguez homered twice in an eight-run seventh inning to lead the New York Yankees over Seattle 10-2.
Today’s birthdays: Chris B. Young 26; Ryan Spilborghs 30; Randy Choate 34; Rod Barajas 34.