The Marlins will face the National League West champion Giants in a best-of-5 series beginning Tuesday in San Francisco.
"We're happy to get in, but this is just the beginning," said Derrek Lee, who drove in two runs. "We want to go deep in the playoffs."
Leadoff batter Pierre, a catalyst all season, set a team record with 64 stolen bases, reached a career high with 203 hits and played a part in Florida's first three runs.
The Marlins trailed Philadelphia in the wild-card race last Saturday, but pulled away with five consecutive wins. At 90-70, they're 20 games above .500 for the first time since 1997. The victory put 72-year-old manager Jack McKeon in the postseason for the first time. Florida is 74-48 (.607) since he took over May 11.
With the win, Florida eliminated the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, still vying for the NL Central title, from wild-card contention.
"We always went to the playoffs in high school," said 23-year-old pitcher Josh Beckett, Florida's probable starter in the opening playoff game. "This time I actually get to drink beer."
Carl Pavano (12-13), the No. 5 starter on a strong pitching staff, limited New York to six hits and three runs in 7 1-3 innings. Ugueth Urbina got his sixth save.
The Marlins' rapidly expanding bandwagon attracted 33,215 fans, the largest crowd of the week and the fourth-largest of the season in Miami.
Aaron Heilman (2-7) took the loss.
Braves 6, Phillies 0
In Philadelphia, Horacio Ramirez pitched six sharp innings as Atlanta moved closer to clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs with a victory over Philadelphia in the final night game at Veterans Stadium.
The Phillies, atop the NL wild-card standings a week ago, lost their sixth straight game. They were eliminated from the playoff race Thursday night after being swept by Florida.
Ramirez (12-4) allowed five hits and no walks. Jaret Wright pitched a perfect seventh, Ray King and Will Cunnane worked the eighth and Kent Mercker got the final three outs to complete the five-hitter.
The Phillies are closing Veterans Stadium after 33 seasons. They're moving across the street into Citizens Bank Park next season.
See the Scoreboard on p19 for the results of other MLB games.
RSS