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Associated Press 9y

This Date In Baseball

MLB, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins

Compiled by PAUL MONTELLA

By The Associated Press

Oct. 10

1904 -- Boston clinched the pennant on the last day of the season when Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders threw a wild pitch in the ninth to allow the winning run to score from third.

1920 -- The Cleveland Indians beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 8-1 in the fifth game of the World Series. For the Indians, Elmer Smith hit the first Series grand slam and Jim Bagby, the winner, hit the first Series homer by a pitcher.

1924 -- The Washington Senators won their only championship by defeating the Giants 4-3 in 12 innings. The winning run scored when a ball hit by Earl McNeely bounced over third baseman Fred Lindstrom's head.

1926 -- Grover Alexander, 39, saved Game 7 and the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, fanning Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and pitching 2 1-3 hitless innings.

1957 -- Lew Burdette's third victory of the World Series, a 5-0 decision over the New York Yankees, gave the Milwaukee Braves the championship.

1968 -- Mickey Lolich won the World Series for the Detroit Tigers by defeating Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 in Game 7. It was Lolich's third win and came after the Tigers had lost three of the first four games.

1980 -- Kansas City's George Brett hit an upper deck three-run homer off relief ace Goose Gossage to give the Kansas City Royals a 4-2 victory and a three-game sweep of New York Yankees in the ALCS.

1987 -- Jeffrey Leonard homered for the fourth straight game as the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2, tying the NLCS at two games apiece.

1990 -- The Oakland Athletics swept the Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant and their third straight trip to the World Series with a 3-1 victory. MVP Dave Stewart won for the eighth straight time in head-to-head matchups with Roger Clemens, who was ejected in the second inning for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney.

1999 -- One night after winning their second postseason game in 20 tries, the Boston Red Sox made it two in a row in record style -- shocking the Cleveland Indians 23-7 to force a deciding fifth game in their first-round AL playoff series. John Valentin had two homers, a double and seven RBIs as Boston scored the most runs in a postseason game.

2001 -- Randy Johnson extended his major league record for consecutive playoff losses to seven as Woody Williams and the Cardinals beat Arizona 4-1, tying their first-round NL series at one game each.

2011 -- Albert Pujols had one of the biggest postseason nights of his career in Game 2 of the NL championship series, going 4 for 5 with a home run, three doubles and five RBIs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 12-3 to even the series at 1-1. Pujols belted a two-run homer in the first, a two-run double in the third and an RBI double in the fifth, then added another double in the seventh.

2011 -- Nelson Cruz hit the first game-ending grand slam in postseason history, lifting the Texas Rangers over the Detroit Tigers 7-3 in 11 innings for a 2-0 lead in the AL championship series. Cruz also hit a tying home run in the seventh inning. His second homer of the game was a high drive to left off Ryan Perry with nobody out in the 11th. Cruz hit the first official game-ending grand slam. Robin Ventura sent a bases-loaded drive over the fence to finish a New York Mets victory against Atlanta in the 1999 NLCS, but was swarmed by teammates between first and second. Ventura never made it around the bases and was officially credited with an RBI single. His 15th-inning drive for a 4-3 Mets win in Game 5 became known as "the grand slam-single."

2012 -- Raul Ibanez lined a ninth-inning home run while pinch hitting for slumping Alex Rodriguez, then hit a leadoff homer in the 12th, giving the New York Yankees a stunning 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles for a 2-1 lead in their AL division series. Batting for baseball's highest-paid player, Ibanez homered to right-center with one out in the ninth inning off major league saves leader Jim Johnson to tie it at 2. He then hit the first pitch from Brian Matusz leading off the 12th.

2012 -- Seth Smith, Coco Crisp and the never-say-die Oakland Athletics forced a Game 5 of their AL division series against the Detroit Tigers with their most memorable comeback yet. Smith hit a game-tying two-run double off closer Jose Valverde in the ninth inning and Coco Crisp capped the comeback with a two-out RBI single as the A's staved off elimination for a second straight night with a 4-3 victory in Game 4 of the ALDS.

2013 -- Justin Verlander pitched another Game 5 gem in Oakland while carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, and Miguel Cabrera homered to lead the Detroit Tigers past the Athletics 3-0 and back into the AL championship series.

Today's birthdays: Kolten Wong 24; Shelby Miller 24; Jeurys Familia 25; Andrew McCutchen 28; Troy Tulowitzki 30; Brad Ziegler 35; Placido Polanco 39.

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