SCOREBOARD
Thursday, Aug. 16
Detroit at N.Y. Yankees (7:05 p.m. EDT). Justin Verlander faces off against Mike Mussina, who has won his last four starts.
STARS
Wednesday
-Torii Hunter, Twins, hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and a grand slam in the ninth, leading Minnesota over Seattle 6-1.
-Miguel Tejada and Aubrey Huff, Orioles. Tejada hit a tiebreaking double in the 10th inning and Huff added a two-run homer to lift Baltimore over the New York Yankees 6-3.
-Fausto Carmona, Indians, allowed two runs in eight innings and struck out a career-high 10 in Cleveland’s 5-2 win over Detroit.
-Tim Redding, Nationals, drove in two runs and limited Philadelphia to two runs and three hits in six-plus innings to lead Washington to a 4-2 victory over the Phillies.
-Russell Martin, Dodgers, hit two homers to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Houston 6-3.
BONDS
Barry Bonds hit career homer No. 759 in San Francisco’s 6-3 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday. A week after breaking Hank Aaron’s record, the new home run king extended it just across the street from where the Hammer went past Babe Ruth with No. 715.
STRUGGLING
The St. Louis Cardinals closed to within 3 1/2 games of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers with an 8-3 win on Wednesday. Rookie Yovani Gallardo, who went 4-0 in his first seven starts after being called up in June, gave up seven runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings and has now lost his last two. The Brewers haven’t had a starting pitcher record a victory since Gallardo’s win over Philadelphia on Aug. 3, and Milwaukee starters are 1-8 with a 7.64 ERA in their past 16 games.
BOOKENDS
The New York Mets did all of their scoring in the first and ninth innings, scoring five runs in each frame, in a 10-8 victory over Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Moises Alou hit a two-run homer in the first inning and is 17-for-46 (.370) with six homers and 14 RBIs in his last 12 games.
STREAKS
rida and has now won his last five decisions. … Jarrod Washburn surrendered two runs – one earned – in seven-plus innings, but still lost his fourth consecutive decision as Seattle fell to Minnesota 6-1.
SNAPPED
Texas reliever C.J. Wilson had his scoreless streak of 16 2-3 innings end in the ninth inning of the Rangers’ 4-3 win over Kansas City on Wednesday. Wilson picked up his sixth save despite allowing two runs. … Andy Sonnanstine ended an eight-game losing streak in Tampa Bay’s 6-5 win over Boston. He hadn’t won since June 10.
SPEAKING
“Maybe in Little League.” – Toronto hurler Shaun Marcum, on how long it’s been since he’s enjoyed a run of success like his current run of five straigt wins. Marcum, who picked up the win in Toronto’s 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, is 9-2 with a 2.91 ERA in 18 starts since joining the rotation on May 13. He has not lost since July 18.
SEASONS
Aug. 16
1920 – Shortstop Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was hit in the head with a pitch in the fifth inning by New York’s Carl Mays. Chapman suffered a fractured skull and died the next day. It is the only field fatality in major league history.
1927 – Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees became the first player to clear the roof at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ruth’s home run came off White Sox pitcher Tommy Thomas in the 8-1 win.
1947 – Ralph Kiner hit three successive home runs to become the first Pirates player to ever accomplish the feat as Pittsburgh beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-7 at Forbes Field.
1948 – Babe Ruth died of cancer in New York at the age of 53.
1950 – Hank Thompson hit two inside-the-park home runs in the Giants’ 16-7 rout of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds.
1964 – Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals had eight straight hits in a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won the first game 3-0 and the Cardinals took the second, 4-0.
1967 – Jim Maloney of Cincinnati retired 19 consecutive Pirates but had to leave the game after he injured his ankle by stepping in a hole at Forbes Field. Billy McCool allowed two hits over the final 2 2-3 innings to give the Reds a 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh.
1996 – With 23,699 fans at the 25,644-seat Estadio Monterrey, the San Diego Padres defeated the New York Mets 15-10 in the first major league regular-season game played outside the United States or Canada.
2005 – Bobby Bragan became the oldest manager of a pro baseball game when the 87-year-old managed the Fort Worth Cats of the Central League for one game against Coastal Bend. Hall of Famer Connie Mack previously held the record, but Bragan eclipsed Mack by eight days. Bragan was tossed out of the game in the third inning after he went on the field following the ejection of a player.
2006 – Bruce Froemming umpired his 5,000th major league game – second-most in big league history. Bill Klem worked 5,374 games from 1905-40.
Aug. 17
1904 – Jesse Tannehill of the Boston Red Sox pitched a no-hitter, beating the Chicago White Sox 6-0.
1920 – Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman died from a beaning by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees on Aug. 16. This was the only on-field fatality in major league history.
1933 – Lou Gehrig played in his 1,308th straight game to break Everett Scott’s record of 1,307.
1944 – Johnny Lindell of the New York Yankees hit four consecutive doubles in a 10-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Lindell drove in two runs and scored twice.
1972 – Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies won his 15th consecutive game with a 9-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
1990 – Carlton Fisk broke Johnny Bench’s major league record for catchers with his 328th homer as the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 for a split of a doubleheader.
1992 – Kevin Gross pitched a no-hitter as Los Angeles beat San Francisco 2-0 at Dodgers Stadium.
1999 – Jesse Orosco set a major league record by pitching in his 1,072nd game, breaking a tie with Dennis Eckersley atop the career list. The 42-year-old Orosco took the mound with two outs in the seventh inning of Baltimore’s victory over Minnesota.
2001 – Jeff Frye became the second Toronto player to hit for the cycle as the Blue Jays beat Texas 11-3. Frye tripled in the second inning, doubled in the fifth, homered in the sixth and hit a shot to the right-center field gap in the seventh. With the game in hand, he held up at first.
2002 – Alex Rodriguez became the sixth player in major league history to have five straight 40-homer seasons.
2004 – Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton, 19, became the first teenager in more than six years to homer in a major league game, helping Tampa Bay snap a six-game losing streak with an 8-3 victory over Anaheim.
Today’s birthdays: Dustin Pedroia 24; Brett Myers 27; Chad Qualls 29; Mike Maroth 30; Jorge Posada 36.