The Associated Press
1903 — Red Ames’ debut with the New York Giants was a five-inning, 5-0, no-hit victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The game was called in mid-afternoon because of unusual darkness.
1923 — Red Sox first baseman George Burns pulled off an unassisted triple play against the Cleveland Indians.
1951 — Bob Nieman of the St. Louis Browns hit home runs in his first two at-bats in the majors. Both came off Boston Red Sox pitcher Maury McDermott. The Red Sox won 9-6.
1968 — Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland A’s 5-4 to become the first pitcher since Dizzy Dean in 1934 to win 30 games.
1986 — Bob Brenly of San Francisco tied a major league record with four errors in one inning, but atoned with two homers, including the game-winner, to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Brenly, a catcher, was playing third base.
1987 — Ernie Whitt hit three of Toronto’s major league record 10 home runs as the Blue Jays rolled to an 18-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore shortstop Cal Ripken had his consecutive-inning streak stopped at 8,243 when he was replaced at shortstop by Ron Washington in the eighth inning.
1990 — Ken Griffey and his son hit back-to-back homers in the first inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 7-5 loss to the California Angels. The unprecedented father-and-son homers came off Kirk McCaskill.
1994 — The baseball season, already shut down by a monthlong strike, was canceled along with the World Series in a vote by 26 of the 28 teams.
1996 — Mark McGwire became the 13th major leaguer to hit 50 home runs in a season with a homer in a 9-8 loss to Cleveland.
1998 — The Atlanta Braves clinched their seventh straight division crown, winning the NL East with a victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Among the major pro sports leagues — baseball, NFL, NBA and NHL — only seven franchises have finished first during the regular season at least seven times in a row.
2002 — Tampa Bay’s 8-4 loss at Toronto was the Devil Rays’ 100th of the season. The Devil Rays (48-100) became the quickest AL team to lose 100 games since the 1949 Washington Senators lost 100 in their 147th game. They also became the first team to lose 100 in consecutive seasons since Toronto did it from 1977-79.
2003 — The Detroit Tigers lost to the Royals 7-2 to become the first team in 34 years to lose 110 games in one season. Detroit (38-110) has the most losses since the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres went 52-110 in 1969, their first seasons in the major leagues.
2005 — Andruw Jones hit his 50th home run, becoming the first major leaguer to reach that mark since 2002, in Atlanta’s 12-4 loss to Philadelphia.
2008 — Carlos Zambrano pitched the first no-hitter for the Chicago Cubs in 36 years, striking out 10 in a 5-0 win over Houston in a game relocated to Milwaukee because of Hurricane Ike.
2011 — Colorado catcher Eliezer Alfonzo became the first player suspended twice under the Major League Baseball drug program. Alfonzo, will serve a 100-game suspension, was suspended for 50 games in April 2008 while a member of the San Francisco Giants.
2011 — Pittsburgh clinched its 19th consecutive losing season, a record for a major league franchise in North America, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2. The Pirates, who were 51-44 and led the NL Central by a half-game before play on July 20, dropped to 67-82.
Today’s birthdays: Delmon D. Young 29; Josh Outman 30.
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