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On the morning of Aug. 6, 1942, the Brooklyn Dodgers owned an astounding .712 winning percentage (74-30) and a seemingly comfortable 10-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the National League. After that win, the Dodgers would go 30-20 for the remainder of the season. A good stretch, but not quite good enough to keep up with the Cardinals.In the final 52 games of its season, football tables St. Louis went an almost incomprehensible 43-9 and ended up winning the NL pennant by two games. In 1951, from Aug. 12-Sept. 30, the Giants went 37-7 to catch the Dodgers (26-22 over that same span) and force a three-game playoff for the pennant. Thirteen years later, the Cardinals went 28-11 from Aug. 24 until the end of the season to vault from fourth to first, speeding by a Phillies team whic football tables h went 16-23 in the final five weeks. In 1995, the Mariners won 25 of their final 38 games, and the Angels lost 25 of their final 37, to create the necessity for a tiebreaker.On Sept. 2, the Red Sox were 83-54 and the owners of a nine-game lead over the Rays for the lead in the American League Wild Card race. At the same time, the Braves were 81-56, sitting atop the NL Wild Card race by 8 1/2 game football tables s. Since then, the Red Sox and Braves are a combined 14-32, while their closest pursuers -- the Rays and Cardinals -- have compiled a 30-15 record. And so, with two days remaining in the regular season, the joyous ghosts of teams like the 1942 Cardinals stand alongside the horrific specters of teams like the 1964 Phillies, waiting to see if they are going to be summoned as historical precedent. W football tables ild CardBoth the Cardinals and Braves lost on Monday. With two games left to play, Atlanta leads the NL Wild Card race by one game over St. Louis. The Braves are 9-16 in September, while the Cardinals are 16-8. In the AL, the Red Sox lost, the Rays won, and the Angels lost. Boston and Tampa Bay are tied for the top spot in the Wild Card race, while the Angels have been eliminated. Boston is 6-19 football tables in September, while the Rays are 15-10. James ShieldsJames Shields came within one out of his 12th complete game, and settled for his 16th win, allowing two runs on six hits against the Yankees on Monday. The start marked the 14th time this season Shields has gone at least eight innings and allowed no more than two runs, the most in the Majors in 2011, and tied for the ninth most in the Majors ove football tables r the past 20 seasons.Two or fewerMost starts in a season since 1992 with eight-plus innings pitched and two-or-fewer runs allowedPitcher Starts YearGreg Maddux 18 1992Roger Clemens 17 1997Randy Johnson 17 1999Doug Drabek 15 1992Mike Mussina 15 1992Greg Maddux 15 1993Greg Maddux 15 1994Felix Hernandez 15 2010Greg Maddux 14 1995James Shields 14 2011NL batting raceThe Mets' Jose Reyes went 3-for-4, football tables the Brewers' Ryan Braun went 1-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and the Dodgers' Matt Kemp went 1-for-4 with his 38th home run of the season on Monday.Reyes is batting .33396 to lead the NL, while Braun is at .33393. Kemp, who is leading the league with 123 RBIs and 38 homers, is third in the league in batting, at .324. Neither the Mets nor the Brewers have ever had a batting champ, and the last for the D football tables odgers was Tommy Davis, who hit .326 in 1963. Red SoxDavid Ortiz collected his 40th double of the season on Monday against the Orioles. It is the fourth time in his Red Sox career Ortiz has had at least 40 doubles in a season. Those four tie Ortiz with Ted Williams and Nomar Garciaparra for the second most in franchise history, behind Wade Boggs' eight.Ortiz has 348 doubles with the Red Sox -- the football tables seventh most in team history. Carl Yastrzemski is the all-time leader, with 646. Yastrzemski is followed by Williams (525), Dwight Evans (474), Boggs (422), Bobby Doerr (381) and Jim Rice (373). Ortiz's four seasons with 40-plus doubles ties him with Edgar Martinez for the most by a designated hitter.With his 40th double, Ortiz joined teammates Jacoby Ellsbury (46) and Adrian Gonzalez (45) to mak football tables e the 2011 Red Sox the first team in franchise history to have three players with at least 40 doubles.Ellsbury's second-inning double was his 82nd extra-base hit of the season, tying him with Fred Lynn in 1979 for the most in a season by a Red Sox center fielder.PhilliesThe Phillies beat the Braves, 4-2, on Monday to notch their 100th win of the year. It is the first time the club has won 100 game football tables s since 1977, when Philadelphia won 101 games and tied the 1976 club for the most victories in franchise history.Cliff Lee allowed two runs in six innings and won his 17th game of the year. Lee (17-8, 2.40 ERA) and Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35 ERA) make the 2011 Phillies the 10th team in the live-ball era to have a pair of pitchers each win at least 17 games with an ERA no higher than 2.40.What a pair football tables Clubs with two pitchers notching 17-plus wins with an ERA of 2.40 or lower since 1920Year Team Pitchers1920 Pirates Babe Adams Wilbur Cooper1933GiantsCarl Hubbell Hal Schumacher1942CardinalsJohnny Beazley Mort Cooper1944TigersHal Newhouser Dizzy Trout1945Senators Dutch Leonard Roger Wolff 1946TigersHal Newhouser Dizzy Trout1964 Dodgers Don Drysdale Sandy Koufax1969CardinalsSteve Carl football tables ton Bob Gibson1969MetsJerry Koosman Tom Seaver2011PhilliesRoy Halladay Cliff LeeShane Victorino collected his 27th double and 16th triple of the season, giving him 60 extra-base hits this year. Since the start of the 2008 season, Victorino has the fourth most extra-base hits for any center fielder (228). Kemp leads with 252, and is followed by Curtis Granderson (247) and Chris Young (239). football tables Chipper JonesChipper Jones doubled and homered in the Braves' loss to the Phillies, giving him 1,018 career extra-base hits, which ties him with Luis Gonzalez for the 28th most in history. Jones has collected at least two extra-base hits in a game 160 times -- the most in the live-ball era for a switch-hitter. Eddie Murray has the second most (141), and is followed by Mickey Mantle (132), Pete Ros football tables e (130) and Lance Berkman (125).TigersDoug Fister threw eight scoreless innings, allowed three hits, struck out nine, and got the win in Detroit's 14-0 victory over the Indians.Since the Tigers acquired Fister on July 30, the right-hander has made 11 appearances (10 starts) with Detroit, and has thrown 70 1/3 innings. During that span, Fister has allowed 54 hits and 14 earned runs (1.79 ERA), has football tables struck out 57 and walked five, and held opponents to a .522 OPS. Since the beginning of August, Fister and Justin Verlander have combined for a 17-1 record in 20 starts, and own a 2.31 ERA in 140 1/3 innings.The 14-0 win gave the Tigers 14 shutouts, tying them with the White Sox for the second most in the league. The Rangers have 19 to lead the AL. The 14 are the most for the Tigers since they ha football tables d 16 in their pennant-winning season of 2006.Alex Avila went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs on Monday. Avila owns a .903 OPS -- the highest for a Tigers catcher (with a minimum of 400 plate appearances) since Rudy York had a .995 in 1938.Miguel Cabrera went 3-for-5 to raise his average to an AL-leading .343 and his OPS to 1.027. Entering the 2011 season, the Tigers had one qualifying first b football tables aseman in franchise history compile a batting average of at least .340 and an OPS of at least 1.000 -- in 1961, Norm Cash hit .361 with a 1.148 OPS.Melky CabreraMelky Cabrera went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the Royals' 7-3 win over the Twins, and reached 200 hits for the first time in his career.Cabrera is the seventh player in Royals history to collect at least 200 hits, and the first to do so football tables since 2000. The group: George Brett (1976, '79), Willie Wilson (with a club-record 230 hits in 1980), Kevin Seitzer (1987), and Mike Sweeney and Johnny Damon, both of whom reached the plateau in 2000. Cabrera and Wilson are the only two switch-hitters to collect 200 hits for the Royals.Cabrera is the 20th different switch-hitter since 1901 to collect at least 200 hits. Rose had 10 200-hit seasons, football tables followed by Frankie Frisch with three, and Bernie Williams, Carlos Baerga and Garry Templeton, each with two. The other 14 to do it once: Buck Weaver, Dave Bancroft, Max Carey, Ripper Collins, Augie Galan, Red Schoendienst, Maury Wills, Willie Wilson, Willie McGee, Tony Fernandez, Ruben Sierra, Jose Vidro, Jimmy Rollins and Reyes.Cabrera is the fourth player in the AL in 2011 to reach 200 hits t football tables his season -- the most since five reached the mark in 2007. The others in 2011: Ellsbury, Gonzalez and Michael Young.Here and there #149; Adrian Beltre went 1-for-4 with his 31st home run in the Rangers' 4-3 win over the Angels. Beltre, who leads the Majors with 11 homers in September, has homered in three straight games. #149; Behind Mat Latos' seven innings of two-hit ball, the Padres beat the football tables Cubs, 2-0, for their 10th shutout of the season. The Padres' shutout, coupled with the Tigers' 14-0 win, gave the 2011 season a total of a 317 shutouts. The Padres are one of 19 teams to have at least 10 shutouts this year. #149; Starlin Castro went 1-for-4 to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 38 games. Since 1919, Castro's 38-game streak is tied for the ninth longest for any Cubs pla football tables yer in a season. Castro has 204 hits -- the ninth most all-time for a player in his age-21 season or younger. #149; The Mariners' Jason Vargas struck out a career-high 10 and issued no walks while picking up his 10th victory of the season. This start marked the 28th time this season a pitcher reached double-digits in strikeouts while allowing no walks. Those 28 are the second most in a year over t football tables he past 10 seasons, trailing the 2010 total of 30. football tables
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