By The Associated Press
San Diego – The mild, mild West has a champion – the .500 San Diego Padres.
The Padres clinched the fourth division title in their 37-year history on Wednesday night, beating the San Francisco Giants 9-1 to return to the postseason for the first time since being swept by the New York Yankees in the 1998 World Series.
Midseason acquisition Pedro Astacio took a shutout into the seventh. Rookie Ben Johnson had three hits, scored twice and had an RBI, and Mark Loretta had three hits and two RBIs.
Trevor Hoffman, the only player who has been with the Padres continuously since 1998, pitched the ninth in a non-save situation. Hoffman earned saves when the Padres clinched in 1996 and 1998.
San Francisco’s Barry Bonds went 2-for-3, both singles.
San Diego’s postseason drought included five consecutive losing seasons from 1999-2003 and an 87-75 finish last year, when the Padres were five games behind the wild-card winning Houston Astros.
Now the Padres (79-79) need to win three of their last four games to finish above .500 for just the 11th time in their history.
Since 1969, and excluding strike years, the 1973 New York Mets own the lowest winning percentage of a division champion by going 82-79 (.509) to win the East.
Astacio (4-2) struck out three and walked one in winning his fourth consecutive decision.
Phillies 16, Mets 6
Philadelphia – Chase Utley hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs, and David Bell and Kenny Lofton each had four hits to help Philadelphia maintain its flickering playoff hopes.
The Phillies avoided a three- game sweep and still have a slim chance of catching Houston for the wild card. They remained 2 1/2 games behind the Astros, who finish the season with four home games against the Chicago Cubs.
In the Phillies’ clubhouse after the game, a few solemn players watched Houston’s Willy Taveras score the winning run against the St. Louis Cardinals on television, and the realization hit hard Philadelphia’s postseason push might be coming to an end.
“I think we’re out on a limb right now, hanging over a cliff and we’re trying to find a way to get back,” manager Charlie Manuel said.
The Phillies are off today and close the season with a three- game series in Washington.
Jimmy Rollins extended his club-record hitting streak to 33 games with a leadoff single, and Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell each homered during a seven-run eighth inning. Utley drove in two runs in the eighth to give him 101 RBIs, and the Phillies had a season-high 20 hits.
“We put it all together,” Utley said. “We still have three more to go. There’s definitely still a shot. Obviously, we need a little help.”
Nationals 11, Marlins 7
Miami – Preston Wilson homered and had five RBIs, and Nick Johnson added a home run and four RBIs to help Washington sweep the three-game series.
Miguel Cabrera had three hits, including a homer, and four RBIs for the Marlins. Rookie Jeremy Hermida also had three hits, including his second homer.
Pirates 3, Cubs 2
Chicago – Chicago’s disappointing season at Wrigley Field came to a close as rookie Nate McLouth homered for the third consecutive day for Pittsburgh.
Chicago finished 38-43 at Wrigley Field and must sweep a four-game series at Houston to finish at .500 overall.
Reds 11, Brewers 4
Milwaukee – Adam Dunn hit his 39th home run, and Felipe Lopez drove in three runs as Cincinnati denied Chris Capuano (18-11) his 19th victory.
D-backs 4, Dodgers 3
Los Angeles – Luis Gonzalez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning in Arizona’s seventh victory in eight games.
