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 26: The 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.
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.
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 2003All-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 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 29: MetsoutfielderEric 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 CardinalsAlbert 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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 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 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 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 17 - Ray Boone, 81, a two-time All-Star and patriarch of three-generation major league baseball family, which included son Bob and grandsons Bret and Aaron
