Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants overcame many obstacles in their season-long roll to the playoffs.
But despite the deaths of family members and a series of injuries, they never fell out of first place in the National League West.
Jason Schmidt had 11 strike-outs in his 16th win, and Andres Galarraga and Marquis Grissom hit two-run homers as the Giants beat San Diego 8-3 Wednesday to wrap up the division title and their third playoff appearance in four seasons.
The Giants' win coupled with Los Angeles' 2-0 loss to Arizona gave San Francisco an insurmountable 13-game lead with less than two weeks to play. The Giants watched the final outs of Los Angeles' loss on the video board in center field.
"This is exhilarating," Schmidt said. "Even though we've gone through this before, everyone here deserves to celebrate and deserves to have a good time tonight. We know the real work starts in October, though."
After the final out in a solid win over San Diego, the players slapped high-fives as they normally would following a victory. As the players gathered at the dugout railing to watch the Dodgers' game, the crowd began chanting, "Beat LA! Beat LA!"
When it ended, the Giants thrust their hands in the air and joined in a huge group hug near the dugout steps.
In the clubhouse, players doused each other with champagne and beer to celebrate the earliest playoff clinch in franchise history. The festivities became increasingly raucous, with several players apparently competing to douse everyone giving postgame interviews.
"We knew we were going to be pretty good, but to do what we did is amazing," general manager Brian Sabean said after getting a champagne soaking.
By taking first place on opening day and never letting go, the defending NL champions became just the ninth wire-to-wire winner of a division or pennant in baseball history. But the Giants' run was even more impressive for its degree of difficulty.
Bonds' father and Schmidt's mother died during the season, casting a melancholy feeling over the stars' achievements. Manager Felipe Alou has used a patchwork rotation and an ever-changing lineup because of injuries to nearly every key player.
"I'm happy that we get another shot at going all the way," said Bonds, who pointed to the sky after the final out. "I'm not surprised that we're here. We won because we have a good team, but there's still more games to win to get where we want to go."
After a rocky beginning, Schmidt (16-5) mowed down the Padres while getting his career-best 200th strikeout of the season. The San Francisco ace allowed seven hits over seven innings in his fourth straight victory.
Mark Loretta homered for the Padres, who blew an early three-run lead while losing their sixth straight. The Giants beat San Diego for the 14th time in 18 meetings.
San Diego took a 3-0 lead on Loretta's first-inning homer, followed by a two-run second featuring triples by Brian Buchanan and Ramon Vazquez. Schmidt needed half the game to find his groove, throwing two wild pitches and allowing four extra-base hits in the first four innings.
The Giants rallied on Galarraga's 397th career homer in the second, followed by Grissom's two-run shot in the third.
Mike Bynum (0-3) was chased after allowing consecutive singles in the fifth. Rich Aurilia followed with an RBI single -- and Bonds hit two fearsome foul balls deep into McCovey Cove before driving in another run with a ground single.
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