1987: Mattingly and Winfield hit slams north of the border

There was a riot at the bat rack in Toronto as the Yankees and Blue Jays traded haymakers for nine innings in a game that had 29 runs between the two teams. The Yankees wasted no time getting to Jays’ starter John Cerutti. Dave Winfield hit a two-out, two-run homer in the first inning and, after a Gary Ward walk, Ron Kittle followed that with an inside-the-park homer to put the Yankees up, 4-0. Cecil Fielder answered in the bottom of the frame with a two-run homer off Yankees starter Dennis Rasmussen to make the score, 4-3.

Don Mattingly came to the plate in the second inning with the bases loaded and one out and took Cerutti deep to right for a grand slam. It was Mattingly’s second slam of the season, and it drove Cerutti out of the game with the hurler having allowed eight runs in 1 1/3 innings.

The Yankees bats took a breather for three innings, then, in the top of the sixth, Mike Pagliarulo launched the fourth homer for the Bombers on the day with a two-run blast off reliever Jose Nunez. Mattingly also added an RBI single to give the Yankees an 11-4 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, Willie Upshaw hit a solo shot and Lloyd Moseby hit a three-run homer with two outs to shave the Yankees' lead to 11-8.

Things took a bad turn in the bottom of the seventh when Yankees relievers Tim Stoddard and Pat Clements loaded the bases with a single and two walks without recording an out. Manager Lou Piniella went to closer Dave Righetti to restore order except Rags did everything but -- though it was not entirely his fault. He got Upshaw to ground out to second, which scored a run. He next got Ernie Whitt to ground to second again, but Willie Randolph dropped the ball on what could have been a double play, and Whitt reached while another run scored. Manuel Lee singled to load the bases again and Tony Fernandez doubled to bring in two runs and give Toronto the lead. Jesse Barfield padded that lead with a two-out, two-run single to put the Jays up, 14-11. Righetti got out of inning with no more damage.

In the top of the eighth, reliever Jeff Musselman put two runners on and gave way to closer Tom Henke who struck out Randolph for the second out of the inning, but then walked Mattingly to bring Dave Winfield to the plate with the bases loaded. Winfield had struck out in his previous three at-bats after his first-inning homer, but he took Henke deep on an 0-1 pitch to give the Yankees the lead back and the team its second slam of the game.

Righetti returned to form in the eighth and ninth innings to nail down the Yankees' 15-14 win. It was only the second time in team history that the Yankees hit two grand slams in a game. The first occurred 51 years earlier when Tony Lazzeri launched two salamis as part of an 11-RBI performance against the Athletics in Philadelphia, a game which the Yankees won with far fewer difficulties, 25-2.

1966: The Mick ties The Babe at Fenway

In the top of the third at Fenway Park, Bobby Richardson, Mickey Mantle and Joe Pepitone hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning. It was the first time Yankees batters hit three consecutive homers in an inning since May 13, 1947, when Charlie Keller, Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Lindell did it against the Browns at Yankee Stadium. For Mantle, it was his second home run of the game as he hit a three-run homer in the first inning. The second homer gave him 38 in his career at Fenway Park and tied him with Babe Ruth for the most home runs by any visiting player there. It is a record that stands to this day.

1941: DiMaggio’s streak eclipses AL mark

In a doubleheader against the Senators at Griffith Stadium, Joe DiMaggio leads off the sixth inning with a double in the first game to extend his hit streak to 41 games and tie George Sisler’s American League record set in 1922 with the Browns. In the second game, he was 0-for-3 until he singled in the seventh to break Sisler’s record. The 42-game streak not only was a record for the Junior Circuit, but it also tied Chicago’s Bill Dahlen for the second -ongest streak in MLB history set in 1894. Willie Keeler had MLB’s longest streak at the time, which was 44 games. (Note: Keeler’s streak was later amended to 45 games because Keeler hit in 44 consecutive games to start the 1897 season, but he also had a hit in the final game of 1896, which was added to his streak)