» September 6, 1996: The O's Eddie Murray hits his 500th career home run, and his 21st of the year, off Felipe Lira of the Tigers in Detroit's 5-4, 12-inning win. He becomes the 15th player to reach the magic number. He also becomes just the 3rd player with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, joining Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. » May 18, 1997:
In the Tigers' 6-5 victory over the Royals, KC left fielder Bip Roberts has a 14-minute at bat against P Felipe Lira. The 1st-inning at bat features 18 pitches, as well as nine pickoff throws to first and six aborted attempts to steal by Tom Goodwin, who was on 1st base.
» July 18, 1997: The Mariners, seeking pitching help, trade Scott Sanders (3–6) and two minor leaguers (pitcher Dean Crow and 3B Carlos Villalobos) to the Detroit Tigers on Friday for righthanders Omar Olivares (5–6) and Felipe Lira (5–7). Piniella practically begged for a trade after the M's lost to Minnesota 9-7 in 12 innings, cutting Seattle's lead to over Anaheim in the American League West to one-half game.
» July 7, 2000: David Wells (15-2) posts his ML-leading 15th win in Toronto's 6–3 victory over the Montreal Expos. Wells becomes just the 2nd pitcher since 1988 to win 15 games before the All-Star break. The portly ace wins his 13th consecutive game on the road, stretching back to September 7, 1999. His only mistake is serving up a gopher to reliever Felipe Lira, who connects for his 1st ML homer. Jose Cruz, Jr. hits his 20th homer, joining teammates Carlos Delgado, Tony Batista, and Raul Mondesi as Toronto becomes the first team in ML history with four players hitting 20 homers before the All-Star break.
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