Jeff Suppan allowed six hits over eight-plus innings and St. Louis beat Chicago 6-1 on Thursday to clinch the National League Central for the fourth time in six years. The game was called with two outs in the bottom of the ninth after a 58-minute rain delay.
The Cardinals, who lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series last year, are the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season.
The victory over the Cubs coupled with Atlanta's 6-4 win over Philadelphia gave St. Louis (94-54) the division title because Houston could at best match the Cardinals at 94 wins, with both teams assured of playoff berths at that figure. St. Louis has the tiebreaker because it clinched the season series against the Astros.
PHOTO: AP
St. Louis jumped on Mark Prior for three first-inning runs as David Eckstein and Albert Pujols singled, Larry Walker doubled in a run, John Rodriguez had an RBI grounder and Abraham Nunez beat out a run-scoring infield single to short.
Suppan (15-10) retired 13 straight after a third-inning single by Todd Walker before Neifi Perez singled in the eighth.
Derrek Lee's 43rd homer leading off the bottom of the ninth ended Suppan's night and ruined his shutout bid. As rain began to fall, the Cubs loaded the bases against Al Reyes. Catcher Yadier Molina missed Henry Blanco's foul popup that would have ended the game and then Blanco reached to load the bases when Eckstein slipped and fell fielding his grounder to short just before the delay.
Brewers 14, Diamondbacks 2
At Phoenix, Bill Hall had a career-high five hits and Chad Moeller drove in four runs as Milwaukee trounced Arizona.
Jeff Cirillo went 3-for-4 with two walks and three RBIs, including a two-run homer against reliever Jason Bulger in the sixth inning to make it 14-0.
Carlos Lee had a two-run shot for the Brewers, who won for the seventh time in 10 games. Milwaukee had 19 hits and tied a season high with its 14 runs.
Tomo Ohka (11-8) allowed two runs and four hits and drove in two runs. He struck out seven and improved to 4-1 in his last seven starts.
Shawn Estes (7-8) gave up seven runs on six hits and three walks in 2 2-3 innings.
Braves 6, Phillies 4
At Philadelphia, Chipper Jones hit two homers and tied his career-high with five RBIs, helping Atlanta avert a four-game sweep to Philadelphia.
The Braves extended their lead in the NL East over the Phillies and Florida Marlins to six games. Houston, which beat Florida 4-1 on Thursday night, moved to the front of the wild-card standings, one-half game ahead of Philadelphia and Florida.
Jorge Sosa (12-3) allowed two runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings for the Braves and Adam LaRoche had a solo homer.
Jones hit a three-run homer in the third inning and a two-run shot in the seventh for his 32nd career multihomer game.
Kyle Farnsworth got the last four outs for his seventh save since joining the Braves on July 31. He retired Chase Utley on a grounder to first to leave runners at second and third in the eighth, but gave up a solo homer to Ryan Howard, his 18th, in the ninth.
Astros 4, Marlins 1
At Houston, Andy Pettitte allowed one run over eight innings to win his sixth straight start and Houston beat Florida to move back in front of the wild-card race.
The Astros (78-68) took a half-game lead over Florida and Philadelphia, which lost to Atlanta, in the wild-card race. Houston and Florida split their four-game series, the last games against each other this season.
Pettitte (16-9) scattered five hits and struck out five. Aside from Miguel Cabrera's 32nd homer leading off the seventh, the left-hander allowed five baserunners, three of whom were erased by double-play grounders.
Brad Lidge struck out the side in the ninth for his 37th save in 40 chances.
Brad Ausmus and Craig Biggio homered in the fifth to give the Astros a 3-0 lead.
Nationals 6, Mets 5, 10 innings
At New York, Vinny Castilla drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the 10th inning and Washington completed the three-game sweep of New York.
Cliff Floyd hit a grand slam and Jose Reyes also homered for the Mets, who have lost 15 of 18. New York fought back from a three-run deficit to take the lead, but closer Braden Looper blew a save in the ninth and the Mets fell to 2-12 in September.
Roberto Hernandez (6-6) walked Nick Johnson to open the 10th and Preston Wilson followed with his fourth hit to move Johnson to third. Castilla's single broke the tie.
Jason Bergmann (2-0) pitched one inning and Gary Majewski worked the 11th for his first save.
Dodgers 7, Giants 1
At San Francisco, rookie Willy Aybar drove in a career-high three runs, Jose Cruz Jr. hit an RBI triple and Derek Lowe won his third straight decision for Los Angeles.
Aybar hit a two-run single in the second and singled in another run in the third.
Barry Bonds, making his third start since coming off the 60-day disabled list Monday, hit a towering shot that splashed into McCovey Cove beyond the right-field fence -- but it was foul by two feet. He was 0-for-3.
Lowe (11-13) pitched eight strong innings to beat the Giants for the first time in five career starts. He allowed Pedro Feliz's second-inning home run and three other hits.
The Dodgers knocked out Giants starter Brad Hennessey (4-8) after 2 2-3 innings.
John Buck hit a two-run double to key a four-run seventh inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the White Sox 7-5 to cut Chicago's lead in the American League Central to 41/2 games.
Chicago's second straight loss to the team with the worst record in the major leagues gave idle Cleveland a sliver of hope for catching the White Sox for the division crown. The White Sox's magic number to clinch the Central is 13 with 17 games left.
Ambiorix Burgos (2-5) got the victory in relief of starter Zack Greinke, going 1 1-3 innings and giving up two runs.
Mark Buehrle (15-8) went 6 1-3 innings for the White Sox and was charged with four runs on nine hits, with two walks and three strikeouts.
Jermaine Dye homered and Tadahito Iguchi drove in three runs for Chicago.
Mike MacDougal got the final four outs for his 19th save in 22 chances.
Yankees 9, Devil Rays 5
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Alex Rodriguez hit his 42nd home run and Robinson Cano erased a four-run deficit with a grand slam, helping Aaron Small and New York rally to beat Tampa Bay.
Small (8-0) became the first pitcher to win his first eight decisions with the Yankees since Doug Bird in 1980 and '81, and New York's fourth straight win continued its strong push in the AL East and wild-card races. Coupled with Boston's loss to Oakland, the Yankees pulled 11/2 games behind the Red Sox in the division and one-half game of idle Cleveland for the AL wild card.
Cano and Rodriguez homered off Seth McClung (6-10) in the sixth inning. Cano's drive into the right field stands wiped out a 5-1 deficit, and Rodriguez followed with a two-run shot in his first at-bat after the Devil Rays' starter hit him in the back with a pitch in the fifth.
Athletics 6, Red Sox 2
At Boston, Mark Kotsay singled in two runs before Curt Schilling recorded his first out, and Mark Ellis also drove in a pair of runs as Oakland beat Boston.
The East-leading Red Sox fell to 1 1/2 games in front of the New York Yankees, who beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-5; the Yankees had not been that close since Aug. 29.
Joe Blanton (10-11) returned to his stingy ways, allowing just two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three in 6 1-3 innings. Before giving up four runs in his last outing, he had allowed two or fewer in nine consecutive starts.
Schilling (6-8) gave up a double and two singles on his first five pitches, then gave up another run on three straight singles the second inning. In all, he allowed four runs on 11 hits and three walks in 6 2-3 innings.
Rangers 4, Mariners 3
At Arlington, Texas, Michael Young reached 200 hits for the third straight season and Gary Matthews Jr. had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly to lead Texas over Seattle.
Kameron Loe (9-5) pitched 5 1-3 innings and left with the 3-2 lead despite making three errors in his sixth major league start. He allowed two runs and six hits, struck out two and walked four. Loe had two throwing errors and a fielding miscue, but Seattle scored only one unearned run as a result of the errors and left 13 runners on base.
Francisco Cordero gave up an RBI single to Adrian Beltre in the ninth, but got the final three outs for his 32nd save in 40 chances.
Seattle starter Jeff Harris (2-4) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and three hits in seven innings, losing his third straight start while the Mariners had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Tigers 8, Angels 6
At Anaheim, California, Curtis Granderson had a three-run inside-the-park homer and Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe also homered as Detroit beat slumping LA.
The Angels lost their fourth in a row, dropping them into a first-place tie in the AL West with Oakland, which beat Boston 6-2.
Mike Maroth (13-13) got the victory, allowing six runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out two and walking two. Craig Dingman pitched the ninth for his fourth save in five chances.
The Tigers scored all their runs with two outs against Bartolo Colon (19-7), who won his previous eight decisions and was trying to become the Angels' first 20-game winner since Nolan Ryan won 22 in 1974. Colon gave up eight runs -- seven earned -- and nine hits in five innings, struck out five and walked one in losing for the first time since July 16 at Minnesota.
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