This date in baseball
JULY 31
1897 St. Louis hurler John Grimes established a major-league record -- which still stands today -- by hitting six batters in a nine-inning game.
1935 Two American League pitchers each hit two home runs in a game. Wes Ferrell hit two against Buck Newsom of the St. Louis Browns and knocked in four runs in a 6-4 win for Boston. Mel Harder hit two for Cleveland but lost 6-4 to the Chicago White Sox.
1954 Using a borrowed bat, Joe Adcock hit four home runs and a double to set a major-league record with 18 total bases in the Milwaukee Braves' 15-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
1961 The second All-Star Game of the year ended in a 1-1 tie at Fenway Park in Boston. Rocky Colavito hit a home run for the American League. Heavy rains end the exhibition after nine innings.
1963 Ralph Terry of the New York Yankees used just 75 pitches in a five-hitter, winning 3-2 over the Kansas City Athletics. Terry had no walks and five strikeouts.
1968 Detroit's Dick McAuliffe became the only player in major league history to score all four runs in a 4-0 shutout against Washington. McAuliffe hits two home runs, a double and a single.
1972 Chicago slugger Dick Allen became the seventh major leaguer to hit two inside-the-park home runs in one game. The home runs paced the White Sox over the Minnesota Twins 8-1.
1978 Pete Rose singled off Phil Niekro to extend his hitting streak to 44 games, as the Reds edged the Braves 3-2. Rose tied Willie Keeler's 81-year-old National League record.
1981 The fifty-day old baseball strike was settled as owners and players agreed on a pooling system for free agent compensation.
1988 Jose Canseco hit two home runs in Oakland's 6-2 victory over Seattle to become the first player to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first three major league seasons.
1990 Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers won his 300th game by defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.
1994 Matt Williams hit his 39th and 40th home runs of the season, giving him a new National League record for home runs through July, as San Francisco beat Colorado 9-4. The previous record was 36. The all-time record of 41 was set by Babe Ruth in 1928, and tied by Jimmie Foxx four years later.
1998 Oakland defeated Cleveland 12-2. Down by nine runs in the eighth inning, the Indians brought outfielder Mark Whiten in to pitch. Whiten allowed one run on a double, a hit by pitch and two walks, but also struck out three batters. He became the only player in major league history, with at least one inning pitched, to get every out with a strikeout.
2000 The Giants edged the Brewers 4-3 in 11 innings as Robb Nen set a new major-league record with his 14th save of July, one shy of the mark for any month.
2009 Cliff Lee (Benton, Arkansas Razorbacks) pitched a complete-game four-hitter in his first start for the Phillies and added two base hits in a 5-1 victory over the Giants.
2010 Carlos Gonzalez completed the cycle by hitting a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth as the Rockies defeat the Cubs 6-5. Gonzalez's blast off Sean Marshall came after Chicago's Derrek Lee hit a game-tying three-run homer off Rafael Betancourt in the eighth inning.
2012 A.J. Burnett (North Little Rock, Central Arkansas Christian) flirted with a no-hitter but settled for a one-hitter as he beat the Cubs 5-0. With two outs in the 8th, pinch-hitter Adrian Cardenas lined a single to right field for the Cubs' lone hit. Neil Walker drove in all five runs for the Pirates.
2018 The Nationals set a franchise record for runs by crushing the Mets 25-4. It is also the largest margin of defeat in Mets history. The Nationals scores 7 runs in the first, chasing Steven Matz, then added three runs in each of the next four inning. Daniel Murphy hit two home runs and drove in six, Anthony Rendon drove in four, and Trea Turner had four hits.
SOURCE Baseball-Reference.com