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Rockies win sets up tiebreaker

Philadelphia Phillies players celebrate after their 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals to win the NL Eastern Division championship in Philadelphia on Sunday. PHOTO: REUTERS

At Denver, Matt Holliday set up Colorado's go-ahead, three-run burst in the eighth inning and Manny Corpas held off Arizona's ninth-inning rally as the Rockies won 4-3 to force the first tiebreaker for a wild card spot since 1999.

Brad Hawpe drove in three runs as the Rockies won their 13th in 14 games. San Diego and Colorado were scheduled to play yesterday at Coors Field for the final playoff spot in the majors. The Padres planned to pitch ace Jake Peavy, while the Rockies planned to start Josh Fogg.

Holliday went 1-for-3 and is hitting a league-leading .340. He leads Atlanta's Chipper Jones by three points for the batting title and will win the crown provided he doesn't go 0-for-5 on Monday.

Phillies 6, Nationals 1

Ryan Howard hit his 47th home run and 44-year-old Jamie Moyer pitched five gutsy innings as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 on to end a 14-year playoff drought.

Considered all-but-out of contention just 2.5 weeks ago, Philadelphia overcame a huge deficit in the standings, caught New York and won their first National League East title since 1993.

Marlins 8, Mets 1

At New York, Tom Glavine was tagged for seven runs in the first inning and New York completed its horrendous collapse with a season-ending loss to Florida.

New York's loss coupled with Philadelphia's win over Washington gave the division title to the Phillies and sent the stunned Mets home for the winter.

Brewers 11, Padres 6

At Milwaukee, Brett Tomko had a shaky start as San Diego failed in its second chance to wrap up the NL wild card by losing to Milwaukee.

Milwaukee pushed across two in the fourth, chased Tomko (4-12) during a four-run fifth and added three more in the sixth on a bases-loaded triple by Gabe Gross.

Astros 3, Braves 0

At Houston, Craig Biggio doubled in his first at-bat and scored in the first inning of his final game for Houston in front of a record crowd at Minute Maid Park.

Biggio, who played his entire 20-season career in Houston, became the 27th player to reach 3,000 hits on June 28.

Reds 8, Cubs 4

At Cincinnati, Alfonso Soriano set a Cubs record with his 14th homer last month as the NL Central champions headed into the playoffs following a loss that amounted to a light workout.

After clinching the division title in the series opener, Chicago used the last two games to rest and get ready for the postseason.

Giants 11, Dodgers 2

At Los Angeles, Barry Zito allowed two runs in eight innings and light-hitting Omar Vizquel homered as San Francisco completed its worst season in 11 years by beating Los Angeles.

Zito (11-13) was on his game in the finale, retiring 18 of the first 20 Los Angeles batters.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 5

At Pittsburgh, Skip Schumaker went 5-for-5 and drove in two runs as St. Louis won its fifth in a row by beating last-place Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals tied a major league record held by two other clubs by using 10 pitchers in a nine-inning game.

Alex Rodriguez raised his major league-leading RBIs total to 156 and Jorge Posada took over from Joe Torre as manager for the day as the New York Yankees prepped for the playoffs by beating the Baltimore Orioles 10-4 on Sunday.

As the wild-card Yankees made plans for their postseason opener Thursday at Cleveland, Posada and second baseman Robinson Cano did not play.

Tigers 13, White Sox 3

At Chicago, Magglio Ordonez won his first American League batting title, rapping three more hits and leading Detroit over Chicago in a season finale between two disappointing teams.

The Tigers finished 88-74, while the 2005 World Series champion White Sox went 72-90.

Indians 4, Royals 2

At Kansas City, Missouri, Travis Hafner drove in two runs to reach 100 RBIs for the fourth straight year as playoff-bound Cleveland beat Kansas City.

The Indians, who won the AL Central, will start C.C. Sabathia in Game 1 of their division series against the Yankees on Thursday.

Twins 3, Red Sox 2

At Boston, Torii Hunter's RBI double started a three-run first inning as Minnesota held on against the Red Sox backups.

Despite the win, the Twins are heading home after missing the postseason for just the second time in six years. They finished with a losing record for the first time since they went 69-93 in 2000.

Devil Rays 8, Blue Jays 5

At Toronto, Carlos Pena hit his 46th home run and Jason Hammel won for the first time in five starts as Tampa Bay finished up another dismal season with a win over Toronto.

The Devil Rays finished with a 66-96 record, leading the majors in losses for the second straight year.

Mariners 4, Rangers 2

At Seattle, Felix Hernandez held Texas to four hits in eight innings as Seattle closed its up-and-down season on a high note.

Hernandez's yielded to all-star closer J.J. Putz with two outs and nobody on in the ninth. Putz earned his career-high 40th save.

Athletics 3, Angels 2

At Oakland, California, Kurt Suzuki blooped a game-winning single to shallow right with one out in the ninth inning as Oakland finally put an end to a five-game skid with a win over AL West champion Los Angeles.
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