2004 in baseball

May-June

• May 8 - At Fenway Park, Pokey Reese had the first two-homer game of his career in a Red Sox 9-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Curt Schilling pitched his first American League complete game and 80th of his career, while striking out eight. Reese hit an inside-the-park home run and one of the conventional type over the Green Monster, to snap a 172 at-bat homerless streak dating to April 4, 2003. The last Red Sox player to hit a conventional homer and an inside-the-park homer in the same game was Tony Armas on September 24, 1983, at Tiger Stadium.
• May 18 - Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson became only the 17th person in Major League Baseball history to throw a perfect game, throwing 13 strikeouts on his way to a 2-0 defeat of the Atlanta Braves.
• May 26 - Pittsburgh Pirates' Daryle Ward hit for the cycle in the Pirates' 11-8 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. It has been done 23 times in Pittsburgh history and 243 times in the majors since 1882. Ward joined his father, Gary Ward, to become the first father-son combination in major league history to hit for the cycle. The senior Ward accomplished the feat on September 18, 1980, for the Minnesota Twins.
• May 28:
• Mariano Rivera notches his 300th career save in a Yankees 7-5 victory over Tampa Bay. He also becomes the first Yankee and 17th reliever in major league history to reach the milestone.
• Matt Clement becomes the 21st big league pitcher and the first Cubs' pitcher in over a century to hit three batters in one inning to tie a major league record. The victims plucked in the fifth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against Pittsburgh are Bobby Hill, Jason Kendall and Craig Wilson.
• June 12 - San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds drills a solo home run (the 675th of his career) off the Baltimore Orioles' Rodrigo López, who becomes the 400th pitcher to be so victimized. Bonds' performance upstaged a milestone afternoon by Rafael Palmeiro, who hit his 536th and 537th homers to move past Mickey Mantle into 11th place on the career list. It was only the third time in baseball history that two players with 500 homers connected in the same game. Willie Mays and Ernie Banks did it in 1970, and Mays and Hank Aaron both homered on May 8, 1971.
• June 20 - On Father's Day afternoon at Busch Stadium, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr. goes deep on a 2-2 fastball from St. Louis Cardinals Matt Morris, securing a spot in the record books as the 20th player with 500 career home runs.
• June 27 - College World Series: Cal State Fullerton wins the NCAA College World Series, defeating Texas 3-2 to win the best-of-three championship series 2-0. The Longhorns later stir up controversy by refusing to accept the runner-up trophy.
• June 28 - David Bell hit for the cycle as the Phillies slugged their way to a 14-6 victory over the Expos. Bell went 4-for-4, scored two runs, and knocked a career-high six RBI. He became the third player to hit for the cycle this season, joining Pirates' Daryle Ward and Brewers' Chad Moeller. Coincidentally, Ward and his father Gary Ward accomplished the feat and when Bell achieved the honor, he joined his grandfather, Gus Bell, who turned the trick on June 4, 1951.
• June 29 - At home, Yankees' Tony Clark hit a deep-center two-run homer off Derek Lowe, to help his team to a 11-3 win over the Red Sox. Clark joined Bernie Williams and Danny Tartabull as the only players to reach the center-field bleachers more than once since the remodeled Yankee Stadium opened in 1976.

July

• July 5: Éric Gagné's consecutive saves streak ended at 84 in a 6-5 Los Angeles Dodgers victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the last team to keep him from converting a save. Gagné had not blown a save chance since David Dellucci hit a tying double on Aug. 26, 2002. Those are his only blown saves in 75 attempts at Dodger Stadium. During the streak, Gagné blew the lead in the 2003 All-Star game when he allowed a home run to the Texas Rangers' Hank Blalock, but that exhibition game didn't count in the statistics.
• July 10: Barry Bonds breaks his own record for intentional walks received in a season; amazingly, he broke the former full-season record of 68 set in 2002 before the All-Star break. After three intentional walks in a 3-1 San Francisco Giants win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, his total stood at 71. He finished with 120.
• July 14: In the 75th All-Star Game, played at Minute Maid Park, the American League rocked Roger Clemens for six runs in the first inning, including home runs by Manny Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano, and coasted to a 9-4 victory over the National League before 41,886 fans. Mark Mulder was the winning pitcher, Clemens got the lost, and Soriano was selected the MVP.
• July 16: Cleveland Indians catcher Víctor Martínez hit three home runs, singled twice, drew a walk, and drove in a career-high seven runs in a perfect 5-for-5 game, recorded his first career multi-homer game, as the Indians belted eight homers-21 hits in an 18-6 rout of the Seattle Mariners. Matt Lawton, Casey Blake, Ben Broussard, Travis Hafner and Jody Gerut added shots. Lawton, Martínez and Blake homered in consecutive at-bats in the third inning. It was the first time Cleveland had hit three consecutive homers since Jim Thome, Albert Belle, and Julio Franco accomplished the feat on September 12, 1996. Broussard, Martínez, Hafner and Gerut all homered in the ninth inning as the Indians matched their team record for home runs in one game, previously accomplished at Milwaukee on April 25, 1997. Cleveland also set a new Safeco Field HR record, surpassing the six homers hit by the Kansas City Royals in 2003. The major league record for home runs in a game is 10, set by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1987.
• July 16: With his solo home run in the eighth inning of the Phillies' 5-1 victory over the Mets, Bobby Abreu joined Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds by reaching the elite 20-homers/20-steal plateau for a sixth straight season. That quartet are the only players to have six straight 20-20 seasons in MLB history. Abreu also became the only member of the quartet with no family connection to Barry, his late father Bobby, or his godfather Willie.
• July 23: At Fenway Park, Kevin Millar became the third player to hit three home runs in a Red Sox-Yankees game, joining Lou Gehrig (1927) and Mo Vaughn (1997). Despite Millar's effort, the Yankees edge the Sox 8-7.
• July 29: Mets outfielder Eric Valent became the eighth player in Mets history to hit for the cycle to lead his team to a 10-1 victory over the Montreal Expos at Olympic Stadium. Valent went 4 for 4 with a walk and drove in three runs and scored three times in becoming the fourth player in the majors this season to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in a game -- joining Milwaukee's Chad Moeller, Pittsburgh's Daryle Ward, and Philadelphia's David Bell.
• July 31: Boston Red Sox sent five-time All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs in a four-team deal that highlighted clubs beating baseball's trade deadline. Montreal Expos shortstop Orlando Cabrera, Cubs shortstop Alex S. Gonzalez and Minnesota Twins first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz also moved in the four-way trade. The Red Sox wound up with Cabrera and Mientkiewicz, both Gold Glovers; the Cubs got Garciaparra and minor league outfielder Matt Murton; Montreal acquired Gonzalez, pitcher Francis Beltran and infielder Brendan Harris, and the Twins got minor league pitcher Justin Jones.

August

• August 3: St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols, at age 24, became the first player ever to hit at least 30 home runs in each of his first four seasons. In 1936, Joe DiMaggio belted 29 home runs in his rookie season with the New York Yankees, and 30 or more in the following five seasons. Mark McGwire hit three homers in his 1986 first year with the Oakland Athletics, and 30 or more in the next four seasons. Pujols also became the first Cardinal in the franchise's 112-year history to hit 30 or more home runs in four consecutive years.
• August 7: Greg Maddux of the Chicago Cubs defeats the San Francisco Giants, 8-4, to earn his 300th career pitching victory.
• August 8: At Comerica Park, Boston Red Sox outslugged the Detroit Tigers 11-9, despite knuckleballer Tim Wakefield giving up a record-tying six home runs. Wakefield became the sixth pitcher since 1900 to yield six homers in a game, but the first since George Caster of the Philadelphia Athletics against the Red Sox on Sept. 24, 1940. The others were Larry Benton (New York Giants, 1930), Hollis Thurston (Brooklyn Dodgers, 1932), Wayman Kerksieck (Philadelphia Phillies, 1939) and Al Thomas (St. Louis Browns, 1936). Both teams combined for 10 homers. For Boston, Kevin Youkilis homered twice and David Ortiz belted one. For Detroit, Ivan Rodriguez and Eric Munson each connected twice, and one each to Carlos Peña, Dmitri Young and Craig Monroe. In 1886, Charlie Sweeney of the St. Louis Maroons in the National League gave up seven homers in a game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
• August 16: Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves hits the 300th home run of his career in a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres.
• August 17: Mark Teixeira became the second player in the Texas Rangers history -- and first in more than 19 years -- to hit for the cycle, leading Texas to a 16-4 rout of the visitors Cleveland Indians. He went 4-for-5 and drove in a career-high seven runs for the club's first cycle since Oddibe McDowell accomplished the feat on July 23, 1985, against the Indians at Arlington Stadium. Teixeira is the fifth player to hit for the cycle this season, joining Milwaukee's Chad Moeller, Pittsburgh's Daryle Ward, Philadelphia's David Bell and Eric Valent of the New York Mets.
• August 25: Cuba defeats Australia 6-2 in the final of the 2004 Summer Olympics Baseball tournament.
• August 26: At Safeco Field, Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki belted a leadoff home run in the ninth inning for his 200th hit in 2004, reaching the mark in fewer games than any player since 1930. In that season, Bill Terry of the New York Giants, reached 200 in the Giants' 119th game, while Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies collected No. 200 in game No. 125. With the hit, which snapped an 0--for-11 slide, Ichiro became the first player in major league history to record at least 200 hits in each of his first four seasons. He hit 242 in 2001, 208 in 2002, and 212 in 2003.
• August 29: Pabao of Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles wins the 2004 Little League World Series.
• August 31: Omar Vizquel went 6-for-7 to tie the American League record for most hits in a nine-inning game as the Cleveland Indians rolled to a 22-0 rout of the Yankees, who endured the worst shutout loss in league history. The only players with seven hits in a nine-inning game are Rennie Stennett (Pittsburgh in 1975) and Wilbert Robinson (Orioles in 1892). Cleveland matched the largest shutout in the majors since 1900, set by Pittsburgh against the Cubs on September 16, 1975. The Yankees had never lost by more than 18 runs, falling 24-6 at Cleveland on July 29, 1928, and 19-1 at home against Detroit on June 17, 1925. Previously, the Yankees' biggest shutout loss was 15-0 at home against the White Sox on May 4, 1950. Cleveland set a team record for largest shutout win, topping its 19-0 rout of Boston on May 18, 1955.

September

• September 9 - Joe Randa became the first player in American League history to have six hits and six runs in the same nine-inning game in Kansas City's 26-5 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader.
• September 17:
• At San Francisco, Barry Bonds became just the third player in MLB history to hit 700 career home runs. Bonds joined the select company of Hall of Famers Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) when he connects on an 0-1 slider from San Diego Padres hurler Jake Peavy in the third inning.
• September 17: At Safeco Field, Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland Athletics, 6-3. Rookie Greg Dobbs' three-run pinch-hit double started Seattle's five-run seventh inning. Meanwhile, Edgar Martinez got his 1,000th career run batted in as a designated hitter --a record for RBI at the position-- and Ichiro Suzuki broke the major league record with his 199th single of the season in the seventh. He bettered the mark of 198 set by Lloyd Waner of Pittsburgh in 1927.
• September 18 - The St. Louis Cardinals became the first major league team to clinch a playoff spot this season, winning the NL Central Division for the third time in five seasons. A few hours after the Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-0, the playoff berth was clinched when San Francisco lost to San Diego 5-1. When the Cubs lost 6-5 at Cincinnati, the division title was assured.
• September 20 - The Minnesota Twins clinched the AL Central Division with a 8-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. This Twins team has done what no other Twins team could. It has won three consecutive division titles and has had four winning seasons in a row.
• September 22 - Raúl Ibáñez of the Seattle Mariners tied an American League record with six hits in Seattle's 16-6 victory over Anaheim.
• September 26 - The Boston Red Sox completed their home schedule by selling out all 81 games. The only other teams to do that were Cleveland (1996 through 2000), Colorado (1996) and San Francisco (2000).
• September 27 - The Boston Red Sox clinched their second straight trip to the postseason, beating Tampa Bay 7-3.
• September 29 - Major League Baseball announces that the Montreal Expos will be moved to the Washington, DC area for the 2005 season. That night, the Expos play their final home game in front of 30,000+ fans. The Expos lose to the Florida Marlins 9-1.
• September 30 - Bernie Williams hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees clinched their seventh straight AL East Division title, beating the Twins 6-4 for their 100th victory of the season. The Yankees became just the fourth team in baseball history to post three straight 100-win seasons, joining the Atlanta Braves (1997-99), Baltimore Orioles (1969-71) and Philadelphia Athletics (1929-31).
• David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez became the first pair of A.L. teammates since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931 to both bat .300 with 40 HR and 100 RBI in major league history. The feat has been accomplished only 11 other times.

October-December

• October 1: Ichiro Suzuki surpassed George Sisler's 84-year-old record of 257 hits in a single season. After this game, Ichiro had collected 259 hits in the season with two games left; he finished the season with 262 hits.
• October 2: The Anaheim Angels clinched their first AL West Division division title in 18 years after a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics. The Angels also earned their first playoff berth since 2002, when they won the World Series as the wild card. The Angels, who trailed Oakland by one game four days before, were tied for the first place when the three-game series started, and many expected the race to come down to the last day of the season, but Anaheim ended the suspense with two consecutive victories.
• October 2: Steve Finley's walk-off grand slam capped a seven-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West Division title by beating the San Francisco Giants 7-3.
• October 3: The Houston Astros charged into the playoffs with their 18th consecutive home victory by beating Colorado 5-3 to win the National League wild card. Houston won the final seven games of the regular season and nine of the last 10 to complete an amazing late-season push for the playoffs under manager Phil Garner, who replaced Jimy Williams at the All-Star break. The Astros were a season-worst 56-60 on August 14. Since then, the team compiled a major league-best 36-10.
• October 8: At Fenway Park, David Ortiz homered in the 10th inning to send the Boston Red Sox into their second consecutive AL championship series, completing a three-game sweep of the Anaheim Angels with an 8-6 victory.
• October 9: At Minneapolis, the New York Yankees rallied for four runs to tie the game in the eighth, then pushed across the winning run in the 11th on a wild pitch. The 6-5 win against the Twins gave them a 3-1 AL Division series victory and sends them back to Yankee Stadium, where they will open against the Red Sox in the best-of-seven ALCS.
• October 10: The St. Louis Cardinals advanced to the NLCS for third time in five years, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 to win their first-round playoff 3-1.
• October 11: The Houston Astros posted a 12-3 triumph over the Atlanta Braves in the decisive fifth game of the National League Division Series. Winning a postseason series for the first time in the 43-year history of the franchise, the Astros earned a spot in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
• October 20: At Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox pulled off the greatest of baseball comebacks, beating the Yankees four straight times after losing the first three games of the ALCS.
• October 21: At home, the Cardinals advanced to the World Series after a Game 7 victory over the Astros.
• October 26: Takashi Ishii went six strong innings and Alex Cabrera hit a towering two-run homer as the Seibu Lions defeated the Chunichi Dragons 7-2 in Game 7 of the Japan Series to win their first championship since 1992. The ball bounced off the glass-enclosed private boxes above the left field seats. It was Cabrera's third home run of the series. The former Arizona Diamondbacks player also had a grand slam and a two-run homer in Game 3. For his part, Ishii was selected the Series MVP.
• October 27: The Boston Red Sox complete a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series for the first time since 1918.