This Day in Braves History: Phil Niekro makes his final big league appearance

1920 – The Braves eliminate the Giants with a 3-2 win at the Polo Grounds in the second game of a doubleheader thanks to a ninth inning home run by Tony Boeckel.

1921 – Braves catcher Ray Powell hits three triples to tie the major league record on an 8-5 win over Brooklyn.

1930 – Wally Berger sets a National League record for rookies with his 38th home run of the season in a 7-1 win over Brooklyn.

1952 – Eddie Mathews homers three times as Boston snaps a 10-game losing streak with an 11-3 win over Brooklyn. Virgil Jester is the winner and it is his last in the majors and the last win for the Boston Braves franchise.

1982 – Phil Niekro throws a two-hit shutout in a 7-0 Braves’ win over the Giants. The victory pushes the Braves back into a first place tie with the Dodgers in the NL West.

1987 – Phil Niekro allows five runs in three innings of a 15-6 loss to the Giants in his final major league appearance. Niekro was released earlier in the season by Toronto and agreed to pitch one last game with Atlanta.

2009 – Atlanta scores three runs in the 10th to beat Washington 6-3. The Braves have won six straight overall and 10 straight on the road. They pull to within 2.5 games of the Rockies for the Wild Card in the NL.

1909 – The Pirates set a National League record with their 16th win in a row before losing to the Giants, 8-7 in the second game of a doubleheader.

1914 – Napoleon Lajoie records his 3,000th career hit with a double against the Yankees. Lajoie is the second modern major league player to reach the milestone.

1919 – Babe Ruth hits his 29th home run of the season in Washington and becomes the first player to homer in every park in the league in one season.

1973 – Nolan Ryan strikes out 16 in 11 innings of a 5-4 Angels’ win over the Twins. Ryan sets a new major league record with 383 strikeouts.

1996 – Barry Bonds steals his 40th base of the season to become the second player ever to join the 40/40 club.

1999 – The Tigers defeat the Royals 8-2 in the last game played at Tiger Stadium. Robert Fick hits a grand slam in the eighth inning while Luis Polonia and Karim Garcia also go deep.

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