IN THE NEWS: Mark McGwire hits his 56th and 57th home runs of the season, in a 7–1 Cardinals' win over Florida, to break Hack Wilson's National League standard for home runs in a season. McGwire also eclipses Babe Ruth's record of 114 home runs in consecutive seasons set in 1927–28.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 1, 1998
Chicago White Sox
9, Baltimore Orioles 5 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 40,016)
W: Jim Parque L: Doug Drabek S: Jaime Navarro
Seattle Mariners
7, Boston Red Sox 3 at Fenway Park (att. 28,150)
W: Jamie Moyer L: Derek Lowe
Cleveland Indians
7, Anaheim Angels 6 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,184)
W: Steve Reed L: Rich DeLucia
Detroit Tigers
12, Texas Rangers 8 at Tiger Stadium (att. 9,733)
W: Matt Anderson L: Tim Crabtree S: A. J. Sager
Toronto Blue Jays
2, Kansas City Royals 1 at Royals Stadium (att. 12,447)
W: Chris Carpenter L: Tim Belcher S: Paul Quantrill
IN THE NEWS: Mark McGwire hits two home runs against the Marlins for the 2nd consecutive day to set a new major league mark for homers in a season by a righthanded batter with 59. The Cardinals defeat the Marlins by a score of 14–4.
Sammy Sosa hits home run #56 as the Cubs defeat the Reds, 4–2.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 2, 1998
Chicago White Sox
3, Baltimore Orioles 2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 46,123)
W: John Snyder L: Alan Mills S: Bob Howry
Boston Red Sox
7, Seattle Mariners 3 at Fenway Park (att. 25,813)
W: Tom Gordon L: Bobby Ayala
Anaheim Angels
13, Cleveland Indians 5 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,200)
W: Steve Sparks L: Bartolo Colon
Texas Rangers
5, Detroit Tigers 3 at Tiger Stadium (att. 10,699)
W: Rick Helling L: Brian Moehler S: John Wetteland
Toronto Blue Jays
5, Kansas City Royals 0 at Royals Stadium (att. 12,541)
W: Kelvim Escobar L: Jose Rosado S: Paul Quantrill
Tampa Bay Devil RaysDevil RaysDevil Rays
4, Minnesota Twins 1 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (att. 7,165)
W: Esteban Yan L: La Troy Hawkins S: Albie Lopez
Oakland Athletics
2, New York Yankees 0 at Yankee Stadium (att. 30,332)
W: Gil Heredia L: David Cone S: Billy Taylor
Houston Astros
4, Atlanta Braves 2 at Turner Field (att. 46,238)
W: Randy Johnson L: Greg Maddux S: Billy Wagner
Chicago Cubs
4, Cincinnati Reds 2 at Wrigley Field (att. 36,761)
W: Felix Heredia L: Gabe White S: Rod Beck
St. Louis Cardinals
14, Florida Marlins 4 at Joe Robbie Stadium (att. 45,170)
IN THE NEWS: The Yankees (100–38) win their 100th game of the season, defeating the White Sox, 11–6. It is the earliest any American League team has ever reached the 100–win mark. The 1906 Cubs needed 132 games to reach the 100-win mark. Bernie Williams leads NY with a pair of homers and four RBIs.
Sammy Sosa's 57th home run leads the Cubs to a 5–2 win over Pittsburgh. Sosa surpasses Hack Wilson's club record set 68 years ago.
With his Giants down 6–0, Barry Bonds, with 23 stolen bases so far, attempts to steal 2B but is thrown out. Ellis Burks then hits a home run and the Giants end up losing, 8–5. Bonds ends the game with a National League record of 15 straight times reaching base.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 4, 1998
Kansas City Royals
5, Anaheim Angels 3 at Anaheim Stadium (att. 33,832)
W: Ricky Bones L: Mike Holtz S: Jeff Montgomery
New York Yankees
11, Chicago White Sox 6 at Comiskey Park II (att. 19,876)
W: Graeme Lloyd L: Chad Bradford
Cleveland Indians
10, Detroit Tigers 2 at Tiger Stadium (att. 23,139)
W: Charles Nagy L: Seth Greisinger
Tampa Bay Devil RaysDevil RaysDevil Rays
5, Oakland Athletics 2 at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium (att. 8,198)
W: Rolando Arrojo L: Jimmy Haynes S: Roberto Hernandez
Baltimore Orioles
10, Seattle Mariners 1 at Kingdome (att. 27,404)
W: Juan Guzman L: Paul Spoljaric
Texas Rangers
9, Minnesota Twins 3 at The Ballpark in Arlington (att. 25,580)
W: Aaron Sele L: Frank Rodriguez
Toronto Blue Jays
12, Boston Red Sox 1 at Skydome (att. 29,166)
W: Pat Hentgen L: Tim Wakefield S: Dave Stieb
Arizona Diamondbacks
3, Houston Astros 1 at Bank One Ballpark (att. 41,396)
W: Amaury Telemaco L: Jose Lima S: Gregg Olson
Colorado Rockies
11, San Diego Padres 5 at Coors Field (att. 44,596)
W: Dave Veres L: Scott Sanders
Montreal Expos
8, Florida Marlins 0 at Joe Robbie Stadium (att. 16,929)
IN THE NEWS: Mark McGwire slugs his 60th home run of the season to become the 3rd player in history to reach the milestone. The 1st–inning blast off lefty Dennis Reyes helps the Cards on their way to a 7–0 blanking of the Reds.
Sammy Sosa hits home run #58 tin Chicago's 8–4 win over the Pirates, as the Cubs maintain their lead in the race for the wild card spot.
Giants OF Barry Bonds strikes out in the 1st inning of the game against the Dodgers to snap his National League record streak of reaching base safely 15 consecutive times. Bonds went 9–for–9 in the streak, which surpassed the old mark set by Pedro Guerrero in 1985. The Dodgers take the game by a score of 6–3.
IN THE NEWS: Atlanta OF Andruw Jones hits his 50th career home run in a 4–0 win over the Mets. He becomes the 3rd–youngest player in history to reach that level. Only Mel Ott and Tony Conigliaro did so at a younger age. Atlanta P John Smoltz limits the Mets to just three hits, while fanning an even dozen batters en route to his 14th win.
IN THE NEWS: Mark McGwire hits his record–tying 61st home run of the year in the 1st inning off Cubs' P Mike Morgan in St. Louis' 3–2 victory.
Mariners' OF Ken Griffey Jr. has four hits, including two homers and reaches the 50th home run level. He's the 3rd player to do so in successive seasons. Seattle defeats the Orioles, 11–1, as Griffey knocks in six runs..
Houston's Randy Johnson strikes out 14 Reds in a 1–0 win. It is the 17th time this season he's struck out 10 or more and the 100th time in his career. He lowers his ERA to 1.00.
IN THE NEWS: Mark McGwire breaks Roger Maris' single–season home run mark by clouting his 62nd of the year off Steve Trachsel in the 4th inning of the Cardinals' 6–3 win over the Cubs in St. Louis.
Phillies rookie Marlon Anderson hits a pinch home run in his 1st major league at bat to become the 14th player in history to do so. The Phils and Mets combined for nine homers—Philadelphia has a team-record 7—in the 16-4 Phils win. Four different players homer twice—Jermaine Allensworth for New York and Rico Brogna, Kevin Sefcik, and Bobby Estalella for the Phils.
IN THE NEWS: In Toronto's 6–3 loss to the Indians in 13 innings, the Jays' Alex Gonzalez strikes out six times. Tribe starter Dwight Gooden K's him the first three times, with three relievers add strikeouts.
The Cubs lose to Milwaukee, 13–11, with Sammy Sosa hitting home run #59 in the losing effort.
Kansas City's Kevin Appier makes his first start of the season, stopping the Mariners, 8–5. It is exactly one year since Appier's last start, at Anaheim. Since then he's had two operations and been hospitalized with colon inflammation. His two strikeouts today put him in a tie for the career club record.
The Dodgers name Kevin Malone as their new GM. Malone had been assistant GM with the Orioles for the past two years.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
Baltimore Orioles
8, Anaheim Angels 3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 46,832)
W: Scott Erickson L: Chuck Finley
Boston Red Sox
6, Detroit Tigers 2 at Fenway Park (att. 29,131)
W: Bret Saberhagen L: Brian Powell S: Tom Gordon
Chicago White Sox
3, Cleveland Indians 2 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,210)
IN THE NEWS: Cubs' OF Sammy Sosa becomes the 4th player in history to reach the 60–HR mark for a season when he slugs number 60 off Valerio De Los Santos of the Brewers in the 7th inning of the 15–12 Chicago win.
IN THE NEWS: Sammy Sosa hits his 61st and 62nd home runs of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers to tie the National League record of 10 multi–HR games in a single season set by Ralph Kiner in 1947. The two home runs pace the Cubs to an 11–10 win, and tie Sosa with Mark McGwire for the home run lead.
Arizona defeats the Reds, 5–0, behind the 1–hit pitching of Andy Benes. Gregg Olson picks up the last two outs for the save, as 1B Sean Casey gets the only hit for Cincinnati.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 13, 1998
Baltimore Orioles
12, Anaheim Angels 7 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 48,013)
W: Jimmy Key L: Jarrod Washburn
Detroit Tigers
4, Boston Red Sox 1 at Fenway Park (att. 31,255)
W: Brian Moehler L: Greg Swindell S: Todd Jones
Cleveland Indians
6, Chicago White Sox 3 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,178)
W: Paul Shuey L: Bryan Ward S: Mike Jackson
Oakland Athletics
9, Minnesota Twins 6 (12 inn.) at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (att. 8,454)
W: Mark Holzemer L: Rick Aguilera S: Billy Taylor
Toronto Blue Jays
5, New York Yankees 3 at Yankee Stadium (att. 47,471)
W: Kelvim Escobar L: David Cone S: Robert Person
Tampa Bay Devil RaysDevil RaysDevil Rays
10, Texas Rangers 5 at Tropicana Field (att. 34,007)
W: Rick White L: Esteban Loaiza
Florida Marlins
6, Atlanta Braves 5 at Turner Field (att. 45,683)
W: Jesus Sanchez L: Odaliz Perez S: Matt Mantei
Chicago Cubs
11, Milwaukee Brewers 10 (10 inn.) at Wrigley Field (att. 40,846)
IN THE NEWS: Kansas City scores in all eight of their innings at bat as they down visiting Oakland, 16–6.
In another pitchers duel, the White Sox score twice in the 12th inning, then hold on for a 17–16 win over the Tigers. The teams combine for 41 hits, including five each for Albert Belle of the Sox and rookie OF Juan Encarnacion of the Bengals. Encarnacion also score five runs while driving home 4. Belle and SS Craig Wilson bring home five each for Chicago.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 14, 1998
Baltimore Orioles
1, Texas Rangers 0 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 41,032)
W: Alan Mills L: Xavier Hernandez S: Armando Benitez
Cleveland Indians
6, Toronto Blue Jays 3 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,152)
W: Dwight Gooden L: Steve Sinclair S: Mike Jackson
Chicago White Sox
17, Detroit Tigers 16 (12 inn.) at Tiger Stadium (att. 10,687)
W: Scott Eyre L: Doug Bochtler
Kansas City Royals
16, Oakland Athletics 6 at Royals Stadium (att. 12,103)
W: Ricky Bones L: Blake Stein S: Scott Service
Seattle Mariners
10, Minnesota Twins 3 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (att. 9,711)
W: Mac Suzuki L: Brad Radke
New York Yankees
3, Boston Red Sox 0 at Yankee Stadium (att. 42,735)
IN THE NEWS: Ken Griffey Jr. hits homer #52 and drives in the 1,000th run of his career in the Mariners 12–7 win over the Twins. He becomes the 4th–youngest player in history to reach the milestone, after Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, and Lou Gehrig. Junior hit his 52nd on this date last year.
OF Manny Ramirez hits home runs in his last three ABs to help the Indians to a 7–5 win over Toronto.
Pittsburgh takes the 1st game of a doubleheader against St. Louis, 8–6, as Cardinals' 1B Mark McGwire hits his 63rd home run of the season. The Cardinals take the nightcap, 9–3, to gain a split.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 15, 1998
Texas Rangers
6, Baltimore Orioles 5 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 41,363)
W: Tim Crabtree L: Armando Benitez S: John Wetteland
Cleveland Indians
7, Toronto Blue Jays 5 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,323)
W: Chad Ogea L: Dave Stieb S: Paul Assenmacher
Detroit Tigers
2, Chicago White Sox 0 at Tiger Stadium (att. 10,177)
W: Seth Greisinger L: Mike Sirotka S: Todd Jones
Kansas City Royals
6, Oakland Athletics 3 at Royals Stadium (att. 11,524)
W: Pat Rapp L: Kenny Rogers S: Jeff Montgomery
Seattle Mariners
12, Minnesota Twins 7 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (att. 8,024)
W: Paul Abbott L: Frank Rodriguez
Boston Red Sox
9, New York Yankees 4 at Yankee Stadium (att. 43,218)
W: Tim Wakefield L: Mike Jerzembeck
Tampa Bay Devil RaysDevil RaysDevil Rays
8, Anaheim Angels 1 at Tropicana Field (att. 24,347)
W: Rolando Arrojo L: Jeff Juden
Arizona Diamondbacks
7, San Francisco Giants 6 (11 inn.) at Bank One Ballpark (att. 41,619)
IN THE NEWS: Detroit rookie P Sean Runyan makes his 84th appearance of the season in the Tigers' 2–1 loss to Toronto. He breaks Mike Myers' rookie record of 83 set in 1996.
Ken Griffey Jr. steals his 20th base of the season in a 4–1 victory over Oakland. He becomes just the 3rd player in history to record at least 50 home runs and at least 20 stolen bases in the same season. Willie Mays and Brady Anderson are the others.
Montreal scores two runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to defeat Florida, 3–2. Rookie P Kirt Ojala, who went the distance for the Marlins, ties a major league record by striking out four Expos in the 4th inning. Ojala fans Fernando Seguignol, Vladimir Guerrero, Shane Andrews, and Brad Fullmer to become the 12th hurler in major league history to fan four batters consecutively. Guerrero reached base on a 3rd–strike passed ball.
Cleveland defeats Minnesota by a score of 8–6. Indians' OF Manny Ramirez homers in his 1st at bat, giving him round–trippers in four consecutive ABs to tie a major league mark. After grounding out his 2nd time up, he will homer again in the 5th inning. Matt Williams, out of action for a month with a broken wrist, homers in his first at bat since August 7.
Sammy Sosa's grand slam in the 8th inning, his 63rd home run of the year, leads the Cubs to a 6–3 win over San Diego. He now has 154 RBIs for the season.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 16, 1998
Boston Red Sox
4, Baltimore Orioles 3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 42,676)
W: Bret Saberhagen L: Scott Erickson S: Tom Gordon
Chicago White Sox
9, Kansas City Royals 4 at Comiskey Park II (att. 12,894)
W: Jim Abbott L: Brian Bevil
Cleveland Indians
8, Minnesota Twins 6 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,277)
W: Charles Nagy L: Bob Tewksbury S: Paul Assenmacher
Toronto Blue Jays
2, Detroit Tigers 1 at Tiger Stadium (att. 10,967)
W: Roger Clemens L: Brian Powell S: Robert Person
Seattle Mariners
4, Oakland Athletics 1 at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium (att. 12,371)
W: Jeff Fassero L: Gil Heredia S: Mike Timlin
Tampa Bay Devil RaysDevil RaysDevil Rays
7, New York Yankees 0 at Tropicana Field (att. 38,862)
W: Tony Saunders L: Andy Pettitte
Texas Rangers
5, Anaheim Angels 3 at The Ballpark in Arlington (att. 37,481)
W: Todd Stottlemyre L: Chuck Finley
San Francisco Giants
6, Arizona Diamondbacks 5 (10 inn.) at Bank One Ballpark (att. 40,547)
IN THE NEWS: Cleveland OF Manny Ramirez ties a major league record by hitting his 6th home run over a 3–game span. It's his 43rd on the year. The last American League player to do so was Gus Zernial in 1951. The Indians defeat the Minnesota Twins, 9–1.
Denny Neagle pitches six shut out innings as the Braves win, 1–0, over Arizona. Neagle wins his 15th and joins ohn Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine, all of whom have reached that level. The last team to have five 15-game winners was the 1930 Washington Senators.
The Red Sox edge Baltimore, 3–2, with Flash Gordon picking up his 39th straight save, an AL record.
Ken Griffey, Jr. hits his 53rd homer to pace the Mariners to an 8–0 whipping of Oakland. Tom Candiotti serves up the helping of gopher to Junior.
Red Huff, the oldest ex-major leaguer, dies at the age of 107. Huff pitched for the Yankees and Browns in 1911–13 and 1915 and struck out the first batter he ever faced—Ty Cobb.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 17, 1998
Boston Red Sox
3, Baltimore Orioles 2 (10 inn.) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards (att. 44,565)
W: Dennis Eckersley L: Armando Benitez S: Tom Gordon
Kansas City Royals
13, Chicago White Sox 4 at Comiskey Park II (att. 13,552)
W: Tim Belcher L: James Baldwin
Cleveland Indians
9, Minnesota Twins 1 at Jacobs Field (att. 43,299)
W: Dave Burba L: Eric Milton
Detroit Tigers
7, Toronto Blue Jays 4 at Tiger Stadium (att. 13,304)
W: Doug Brocail L: Robert Person
Seattle Mariners
8, Oakland Athletics 0 at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium (att. 11,707)
IN THE NEWS: Mark McGwire hits home run #64 as he leads the Cardinals to a 5–2 win over the Brewers.
Frank Thomas notches his 100th RBI—the 8th straight year he's reached that level—by clouting a 2-run home run in Chicago's 11–9 win over Boston. Thomas' home run is one of seven in the game in which 32 hits are registered.
Houston's Randy Johnson loses his no-hit bid in the 7th but improves his National League record to 9–1, beating the Pirates, 5–2. The Big Unit allows four hits.
IN THE NEWS: Mariners SS Alex Rodriguez hits his 40th home run of the season, off Jack McDowell of the Angels, to become the 3rd player in history to have 40 home runs and 40 SBs in the same season. Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds are the others. The Mariners lose the game, however, 5–3.
Texas strikes two home run marks today. Mike Simms of the Rangers hits his 16th home run of the year to tie the major league mark for most home runs with less than 200 at bats in a season. Eddie Robinson of the Yankees and Bob Thurman of the Reds accomplished the feat in 1955 and 1957, respectively. Juan Gonzalez belts his 300th career homer, off Jimmy Haynes, but the Rangers lose to Oakland, however, 8–4.
Cleveland OF Manny Ramirez hits two home runs—his 44th and 45th—in the Tribe's 7–6 loss to Kansas City. In doing so, he ties a major league mark with eight home runs in five games.
Braves lefty Tom Glavine wins his 20th, shutting out Arizona, 5–0. The victory gives the Braves their 2nd straight season of 100 wins, the first team in two decades to accomplish that. The Phils of 1976-77 posted identical 101–61 marks.
The Giants score seven runs in the 3rd inning, and six more in the 4th, as they demolish the Dodgers by a score of 18–4. Bill Mueller and Jeff Kent bang grand slams in the two frames, just the 2nd time (April 26, 1970) in Giants history that two players have hit grand slams in a game.
IN THE NEWS: Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr. takes himself out of the Orioles lineup prior to the game with the Yankees to end his major league record consecutive game streak at 2,632. The Orioles lose the historic game by a score of 5–4. Ryan Minor, Ripken's replacement at 3B, gets one hit in four at bats.
Mark McGwire wastes no time as he hits home run #65 in the 1st inning of the Cardinals' 11–6 win over Milwaukee.
IN THE NEWS: Pittsburgh C Jason Kendall steals his 26th base of the season to set a new National League record for catchers. The previous mark was set by John Stearns in 1978. The Pirates lose to the Giants, however, 8–1.
Jim Abbott (4–0) continues his comeback with the White Sox, beating the Twins, 7–1 with six innings of pitching.
Tony Tarasco clubs a pinch grand slam in the 7th to lift the Reds to a 8–5 win over the Phils.
IN THE NEWS: Ken Griffey Jr. brings home his 140th run of the season to become the 3rd player in history to reach that level in at least three consecutive seasons. Griffey's two home runs give him 55 on the season, and lift Seattle to a 7–6 win over Oakland.
IN THE NEWS: McGwire goes homerless in the Cards, 7–1 loss to the Astros as Randy Johnson clips the Birds for his 10th win. He strikes out eight in eight innings. Craig Biggio is 3–for–5 and swipes #50 to become the only player besides Tris Speaker in 1912, to have 50 doubles and 50 steals in a year.
Sosa breaks an 0–for–21 slump, hitting his 64th and 65th home runs as the Cubs build a 7–0 lead over the Brewers. Milwaukee fights back, however, and scores three in the last of the 9th when Chicago OF Brant Brown drops a routine fly ball with the bases loaded and two out in the 9th to allow three Brewers to score. Rod Beck is on the mound when the Merkle–like error occurs (Fred Merkle's boner occurred exactly 90 years ago). Milwaukee wins, 8–7, and the Cubs remain tied for the wild card spot with the Mets, who lose to Montreal, 3–0. With his eight total bases, Sammy has now topped the 400 mark.
The Giants (86–72) stay close with a 4–1 win over the Pirates. Joe Carter's three–run homer helps Mark Gardner (13–5) win his 5th straight. Gardner strikes out 11 in eight innings.
IN THE NEWS: Red Sox P Tom Gordon records his 42nd consecutive save of the year for a new major league mark as Boston defeats Baltimore, 9–6 (41 by Rod Beck and Trevor Hoffman). Boston clinches a wild card spot behind a pair of homers and four runs scored by Nomar Garciaparra.
Shortstop Gary DiSarcina leads Anaheim to a 10–6 win over Oakland with five hits, including two doubles, and a pair of RBIs.
The Yanks win, 5–2, over the Devil Rays and post their 11th win of the year, surpassing the club record 110, set by the 1927 team. Shane Spencer pounds a grand slam, his 8th homer in 57 at bats.
IN THE NEWS: The home run race continues unabated as Sammy Sosa blasts his 66th homer in the 4th inning at Houston, and Mark McGwire responds in the 5th inning with his 66th in the 5th inning at Busch Stadium. Sosa's solo shot ties the game at 2–2, but the Astros score in each in the next four innings to win, 6–2. Kevin Tapani fails in his bid to win his 20th. The Cards top the Expos, 6–5, as McGwire adds another single and J.D. Drew a pair of homers.
The fading Mets (88–72) lose another to the Braves, 6–5, as Dennis Martinez, the 3rd of seven pitchers, is the winner. Meanwhile, the rampaging Giants (88–72) top the Rockies to move into a tie for the National League wild–card.
The Yankees win, 6–1 over the Devil Rays and set an American League record for most wins in a season, 112. The 1954 Indians held the record at 111. Orlando Hernandez improves his record to 12–4.
Ken Griffey hits home run #56, and drives in five runs, to lead Seattle to a 15–4 victory over Texas.
Mo Vaughn has two hits, including his 39th homer, to stay atop the AL batting race and lead the Red Sox to a 8–3 win over the visiting Orioles.
IN THE NEWS: Phillies P Curt Schilling strikes out seven batter s to reach the 300 mark in the season. He thus becomes the 5th pitcher in major league history to fan 300 or more in consecutive seasons. Florida wins in the 10th, 4–3 on Dave Berg's 2–out double. The Phillies also lose the nightcap, 1–0, in 13 innings.
The Yankees defeat the Devil Rays, 3–1, for David Cone's 20th win of the year. Cone sets a record for the most years (10) between 20–win seasons, having won 20 for the Mets in 1988. Jim Kaat held the previous record at 9. Shane Spencer homers, his 6th in nine days and his 7th in the month, a Yankee rookie record.
McGwire stands alone as he parks #67 and #68 at Busch Stadium, but his Cards lose, 7–6, to Montreal.
Sammy Sosa has no homers but a pair of hits and scores the game–winning run as the Cubs edge Houston, 3–2. Gary Gaetti has two RBIs while Jeff Bagwell hits his 34th for the Astros.
The hot Giants rip the Rockies, 8–4, to stay tied with the Cubs for the wild card. Orel Hershiser wins his 11th, despite allowing eight hits in 5+ innings. One of the hits is Larry Walker's 23rd homer, and he adds another two hits to run his average to .362.
Dennis Eckersley gets a standing ovation from the Fenway crowd as he appears in his 1,071st game, breaking Hoyt Wilhelm's record for most appearances. It will be the Eck's final game, When the Red Sox refuse arbitration after the season, Eckersley retires on December 10.
SCOREBOARD: SEPTEMBER 26, 1998
Baltimore Orioles
5, Boston Red Sox 2 at Fenway Park (att. 29,226)
W: Scott Erickson L: Bret Saberhagen S: Armando Benitez
Chicago White Sox
13, Kansas City Royals 5 at Royals Stadium (att. 21,846)
W: Jim Abbott L: Brian Barber
Cleveland Indians
9, Minnesota Twins 5 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (att. 28,764)
IN THE NEWS: The Reds double up on the Pirates, beating them 4–1. Cincinnati uses a brother infield of Bret Boone at 2B (0–for–4) and his brother Aaron (1–for–2) at 3B; Barry Larkin at SS (0–for–3) and Stephen Larkin at 1B (1–for–3). Aaron Boone's 3–run homer gives Tomko (13–12) the complete game victory. Stephen Larkin is a career minor leaguer with a pacemaker and had a new one installed in August after his old one had a hiccup. Stephen hit .228 with three home run and 31 RBI in 80 games with the AA Chattanooga Lookouts this year.
IN THE NEWS: The Giants score three runs in top of the 9th inning, but come up short as the Cubs defeat San Francisco, 5–3, in a one–game playoff to win the National League wild card spot in the playoffs.
The Rockies fire manager Don Baylor, the only manager they've ever had.
IN THE NEWS: The Yankees take the opener of their divisional series against the Rangers, 2–0, on a 5–hit shutout by David Wells, with help from Mariano Rivera in the 9th.
Mo Vaughn leads the Red Sox to an 11–3 victory over the Indians in their ALCS playoff series, clouting two home runs and driving home 7. Nomar Garciaparra gets four ribbies for Boston.
The Padres defeat the Astros, 2–1, in the opener of their divisional series. Kevin Brown hurls eight innings of 2–hit, shutout ball.
IN THE NEWS: In the 1st game of their NLCS series, the Braves defeat the Cubs, 7–1, as Michael Tucker and Ryan Klesko homer to back John Smoltz's pitching.
Andy Pettitte's strong pitching gives NY a 2–0 lead in their series with a 3–1 victory over the Rangers. Shane Spencer and Scott Brosius hit round–trippers.
Cleveland erupts for five runs in the 2nd inning on their way to a 9–5 win over the Red Sox to even their series at one game apiece. David Justice has a homer and four ribbies for the Tribe.
Former KC Royals' P Dan Quisenberry dies of brain cancer at the age of 45.