Rockies 4, Cardinals 3
DENVER (AP) - Second baseman Clint Barmes made a diving catch to start a game-ending double play, preserving the Colorado Rockies' 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Huston Street earned his first six-out save in three years and the Rockies remained 21/2 games ahead of surging Atlanta in the NL wild-card race. The Braves beat Washington 6-3 in 10 innings.
Colorado's victory also kept the Los Angeles Dodgers' magic number at two for clinching the NL West title.
One day after St. Louis wrapped up the NL Central crown, the Rockies received four scoreless innings of work from four relievers to preserve the win for Jorge De La Rosa (16-9), who was removed after the fifth.
Street was called on for his first six-out save since Aug. 2, 2006, with Oakland. He allowed leadoff hits in both the eighth and ninth, but worked his way out of it to earn his 34th save in 35 chances this season.
Colorado trailed 3-2 heading into the fifth, but Carlos Gonzalez hit a tying RBI double and Todd Helton's single put the Rockies up for good.
Braves 6, Nationals 3, 10 innings
WASHINGTON (AP) - Atlanta scored three in the top of the 10th inning, keeping up its late-season surge and completing a three-game sweep.
Brian McCann drove in a run with a groundout, and pinch-hitter Omar Infante followed with a two-run single as the Braves ran their winning streak to six. They've also won 10 in a row on the road - their longest such streak in more than 15 years - and are a season-high 15 games over .500 entering the final week of the season.
Mike Gonzalez (5-4) picked up the win in relief for the Braves, who remained 21/2 games behind Colorado in the race for the NL wild card. Rafael Soriano pitched the 10th for his 27th save.
Mike MacDougal (1-1) got the loss for the Nationals, who have dropped four straight and 103 on the season, surpassing the loss total from last year's 59-102 finish.
Pirates 6, Dodgers 5
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Right fielder Andre Ethier misplayed Lastings Milledge's two-run single for an error that allowed the winning run to score, and Pittsburgh rallied for four in the ninth inning to prevent Los Angeles from clinching the NL West title.
The Dodgers went ahead 5-2 by scoring three runs in the top of the ninth against Matt Capps (4-8), only to let the Pirates stage their best rally of a dismal season in which they are four losses from losing 100 games.
Los Angeles entered with a magic number of two for clinching the division crown, but it essentially was one because the Rockies would lose any tiebreaker with the Dodgers. Colorado beat St. Louis 4-3 later in the day.
Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton (7-2) recorded just one out in the ninth, yielding four runs, three earned, and four hits.
Giants 5, Cubs 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Matt Cain pitched eight scoreless innings and Eli Whiteside had a pair of RBI doubles to lead San Francisco to the victory.
Eugenio Velez, Juan Uribe and Pablo Sandoval each had two hits and drove in a run for the Giants, who had lost six of eight. San Francisco remained five games behind NL wild card-leading Colorado with six games left.
Cain (14-7) gave up three hits, struck out eight and walked two, snapping a personal three-game slide and setting a career high for wins. Cain, who picked up his first home win since July 6, has not allowed a run in his last 23 innings against the Cubs.
Randy Wells (11-10) allowed five runs and 10 hits over 5 2-3 innings for Chicago. Bobby Scales had an RBI triple.
Brian Wilson got one out for his 37th save in 44 chances.
Mets 4, Marlins 0
MIAMI (AP) - Pat Misch pitched an eight-hitter for the first complete game of his career, and New York spoiled Florida's home finale.
Jeff Francoeur and Anderson Hernandez homered for the Mets. Francoeur also robbed Chris Coghlan of a homer in right field.
Misch (2-4) won for only the second time in 13 career decisions. The left-hander walked three, struck out two and retired his last 13 batters. The complete game was only the second this year for the Mets, staggering to the end of an injury-plagued season.
The Marlins were eliminated from the NL East race when division leader Philadelphia beat Milwaukee 6-5 Sunday. Florida fell five games behind wild-card leader Colorado with six to play.
Chris Volstad (9-13) gave up three runs in four innings as a late replacement for ace Josh Johnson, who was sent home with the flu before the game.
Phillies 6, Brewers 5
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Jimmy Rollins hit his 21st homer, Ryan Howard tied Prince Fielder for the major league RBI lead and Philadelphia took another step toward clinching the NL East title.
Ryan Madson got four outs for his ninth save as a struggling bullpen finally came through for the Phillies, who cut their magic number to three. Any combination of Phillies wins or Braves losses equaling three would give Philadelphia its third consecutive division crown.
Atlanta beat Washington 6-3 in 10 innings Sunday.
Joe Blanton (12-7) gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings for Philadelphia.
Dave Bush (5-9) went 4 1-3 innings for the Brewers, yielding five runs and nine hits.
Astros 3, Reds 2
HOUSTON (AP) - Wandy Rodriguez pitched six solid innings, Humberto Quintero homered and Houston ended Cincinnati's six-game winning streak.
Rodriguez (14-11) allowed two runs and nine hits. He walked one and struck out nine in his career-high 32nd start of the season.
The victory gave the Astros a 2-4 record under interim manager Dave Clark, who took over when Cecil Cooper was fired. The Reds had won nine straight against Houston.
Jeff Fulchino worked a perfect seventh, LaTroy Hawkins threw a scoreless eighth and Jose Valverde finished for his 25th save.
Reds starter Johnny Cueto (10-11) went 7 1-3 innings, giving up three runs and six hits.
Diamondbacks 7, Padres 4
PHOENIX (AP) - Augie Ojeda had three hits and drove in three runs to lead Arizona to the victory.
Chad Tracy hit his second home run in two games and finished a triple short of the cycle in his first start since Sept. 9. The Diamondbacks' final home game this season was likely his last home game at Chase Field. Arizona is not expected to exercise his $7 million option for 2010.
Ojeda's two-run double with two outs in the seventh inning gave Arizona a 7-4 lead.
Adrian Gonzalez hit his 40th home run for San Diego, which has lost two in a row after winning six of their previous seven. Edward Mujica (3-5) allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Billy Buckner (3-6) worked seven innings for Arizona, yielding four runs and three hits. Juan Gutierrez got four outs for his eighth save in nine opportunities.