ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals clinched baseball's final postseason berth Tuesday when the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to San Francisco. The defending World Series champions were beaten by Cincinnati 3-1 but wrapped up the second NL wild card hours later when the Giants won 4-3 at Dodger Stadium. St. Louis will play at Atlanta Friday in the new one-game playoff between wild-card teams. The Dodgers' loss left them two games behind St. Louis with one game to go. Giants 4, Dodgers 3: The Los Angeles Dodgers were eliminated from playoff contention, their wild-card hopes dashed to Barry Zito and the Giants. The defeat left the Dodgers two games behind St. Louis with only one game left in the regular season. Los Angeles had won six in a row to stay in the race for the second NL wild-card spot, but Mark Ellis lined out to center field with a runner on second base to end it. The defending World Series champion Cardinals will open the playoffs Friday at Atlanta in a one-game matchup. Marlins 4, Mets 3 (11 innings): New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey struck out one-shot wonder Adam Greenberg, but also gave up two homers in his final start of a Cy Young-hopeful season and the Mets lost to the Marlins. The Marlins' Greenberg struck out on three pitches against Dickey when he batted for the first time in seven years in the sixth inning. Greenberg signed a one-day contract before the game, his first since he was beaned in his major league debut in 2005. Donovan Solano hit a game-winning, bases-loaded one-out single off Collin McHugh (0-4). In his bid for his 21st victory, Dickey left after six innings trailing 3-0, but the Mets rallied with three runs in the eighth to tie the game. After Marlins rookie Jacob Turner allowed one run in 7 2-3 innings, beleaguered former All-Star Heath Bell helped blow their lead. Nationals 4, Phillies 2: A smile crept across Adam LaRoche's face while he rounded the bases Tuesday after hitting his career-high 33rd homer to become the third Nationals player with 100 RBIs in a season, another celebratory moment for NL East champion Washington during a victory over the Phillies. When the Nationals Park gates opened, early-arriving fans in the crowd of 33,546 were treated to a video montage of general mirth-making from a night earlier, when the home team clinched its first division title since moving from Montreal in 2005. Even the guy playing the national anthem on his bat-violin Tuesday wore a gray T-shirt marking the accomplishment. Pirates 5, Braves 1: Kevin Correia pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Garrett Jones homered and the Pirates won consecutive games for the first time in four weeks, beating the Braves. The Pirates (79-82) tied for their most wins in a season since their North American major professional sports record streak of 20 losing seasons began in 1993. The 1999 Pirates went 79-83. Astros 3, Cubs 0: Bud Norris pitched six shutout innings, Jason Castro homered and the Astros beat the Cubs in a matchup of 100-loss teams. The season-ending series between NL Central clubs marks the first meeting of 100-loss team in the majors since 1962, when the Cubs played the New York Mets. Brewers 4, Padres 3: Rookie Martin Maldonado hit a grand slam and the Brewers used 10 newcomers in beating the Padres. Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 3: Aaron Hill hit a game-winning three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Diamondbacks over the Rockies. Jordan Pacheco had hit a two-run double in the top of the eighth to give the Rockies a 3-2 lead. — Agencies
