National League
Steve Finley's grand slam capped a seven-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday as the Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League West, beating the San Francisco Giants 7-3.
PHOTO: AP
"We never quit -- we're winners," said Odalis Perez, who will pitch the playoff opener. "We know how to do it. We finish."
Barry Bonds and the Giants can still make it back to the postseason. If they beat the Dodgers on Sunday and Houston loses to Colorado, San Francisco would host the Astros Monday afternoon. The winner would get the wild card.
Trailing 3-0, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out on a single by Shawn Green and two walks by Dustin Hermanson (6-9), who was pulled after walking Choi Hee-seop with the bases loaded to force in a run.
Jason Christiansen got Cesar Izturis to hit a grounder, but shortstop Cody Ransom misplayed it for an error, allowing Robin Ventura to score. Jayson Werth singled off Matt Herges to tie it.
Finley, acquired from Arizona at the trade deadline, connected off Wayne Franklin and the celebration began immediately.
"Everything was appropriate about that," Werth said of Finley's heroics. "He's unbelievable. He's brought a lot to the table for us this year."
Yhency Brazoban (6-2) pitched one inning for the win.
Braves 8, Cubs 6
In Chicago, Moises Alou, Aramis Ramirez and Sammy Sosa all homered for Chicago, but Carlos Zambrano couldn't hold a 6-2 lead as Atlanta condemned the Cubs to a 59th year without a World Series appearance.
A season that started with such high hopes for the Cubs wound up with them being eliminated from playoff contention by their fifth straight loss. The Cubs led the NL wild-card race by 1 1/2 games before dropping seven of eight.
Kevin Gryboski (3-2) pitched a scoreless seventh and John Smoltz got his 44th save with 1 1-3 innings of relief. Kyle Farnsworth (4-2) took the loss.
J.D. Drew hit a two-run triple in the eighth to lift the Braves.
Braves starter John Thomson -- scheduled to open Game 2 of the divisional series -- left after three innings with a stiff back. Chipper Jones departed after being hit near the right hand with a pitch in the fifth. He had a bruise, no X-rays were needed and he'll be evaluated daily.
Marlins 4, Phillies 3
In Philadelphia, Mike Lowell and Miguel Cabrera homered to lead Florida over Philadelphia, hours after the Phillies fired manager Larry Bowa.
Bowa led the Phillies to consecutive winning seasons for the first time in 21 years, but they failed to reach the playoffs for the 11th straight season after coming in as favorites to win the NL East.
Josh Beckett (9-9) gave up an RBI single to Tomas Perez in the second and a solo homer to Jason Michaels in the sixth. He allowed seven hits and struck out five in eight innings.
Armando Benitez picked up his 47th save.
Eric Milton (14-6) retired 13 straight in one stretch, but allowed four runs and three hits in seven innings, while striking out seven.
American League
Chasing Oakland and Texas for most of the season, the Anaheim Angels scored three times in the eighth inning to beat the Athletics 5-4 Saturday and clinch the American League West title.
Darin Erstad hit a tying, two-run double and scored on Garret Anderson's single as the Angels earned their first division championship in 18 years and first playoff berth since 2002, when they won the World Series as the wild-card team.
"I knew our guys weren't going to melt," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said moments before getting soaked in champagne by several players. "We have a lot of very, very talented players."
The Angels will face either the New York Yankees or Boston in the first round of the playoffs.
The Athletics dropped to 12-18 in September -- a shocking development for a team that's been the best in baseball in the final month the past four years.
"This is a sour note for us," center fielder Mark Kotsay said. "We just gave it to them. (Barry) Zito did an unbelievable job. He gave us the lead, and that's all you can ask. I have no answers for what happened."
After seven strong innings by Zito, A's relievers Jim Mecir, Ricardo Rincon (1-1) and Octavio Dotel couldn't hold a 4-2 lead.
Brendan Donnelly (5-2) pitched 1 2-3 innings for the win and Troy Percival finished for his 33rd save in 38 chances.
Red Sox 7, Orioles 5, 1st Game
Red Sox 7, Orioles 5, 2nd Game
In Baltimore, Doug Mientkiewicz hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the seventh inning as Boston rallied to beat Baltimore for a doubleheader sweep.
In the opener, Bronson Arroyo threw three shutout innings in his final tuneup before the playoffs, and Johnny Damon drove in three runs to lead Boston to victory.
The Red Sox, who long ago clinched the AL wild-card slot, used two lineups littered with backups. Manny Ramirez did not play in either game, David Ortiz and Kevin Millar sat out the opener, and Damon and Bill Mueller were among those who spent the nightcap on the bench.
But Boston pulled off a sweep anyway. The Red Sox have won seven of eight, and are assured of going 11-1-2 in their final 14 series of the regular season.
Boston (98-63) moved 35 games over .500 for the first time since finishing the 1978 season 99-64.
In the first game, the Red Sox scored six runs in the second inning against Daniel Cabrera (12-8) before making an out and led 7-0 in the third.
Javy Lopez and Orlando Cabrera hit three-run homers in the second game.
Terry Adams (6-4) and Byung-Hyun Kim (2-1) won for Boston. Jason Grimsley (5-7) lost the nightcap.
Royals 10, White Sox 2
In Kansas City, Missouri, Ruben Gotay drove in four runs with his first major league homer and a triple, helping Brian Anderson and Kansas City snap a seven-game losing streak with a win over Chicago.
Calvin Pickering and Angel Berroa also homered for Kansas City. The Royals already have a franchise-record 103 defeats with one game left.
Anderson (6-12) pitched his second complete game of the year, giving up seven hits. He struck out four and walked one.
Rangers 10, Mariners 4
In Seattle, Michael Young had a two-run homer and got three hits as Texas spoiled Edgar Martinez Day in Seattle.
The sellout crowd of 45,817 got a special treat when Martinez, Seattle's retiring designated hitter, started the ninth inning at third base, his first appearance at third since July 2, 1997. He stayed in for one pitch, leaving to a standing ovation and scattered boos when Willie Bloomquist took the field.
Martinez didn't have a good day at the plate, going hitless with a walk in three at-bats.
Kenny Rogers (18-9) pitched into the sixth, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
Suzuki boosted his season hit total to 260 with a fifth-inning single, going 1-for-5. He leads the majors with a .371 average.
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