The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - Mike Lieberthal hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, and Vicente Padilla pitched eight shutout innings as Philadelphia routed the Florida Marlins 14-0 Tuesday night.

The Phillies closed within a half-game of the NL wild card-leading Marlins, who had won eight straight against Philadelphia. The teams play twice more at Veterans Stadium and have a three-game series in Florida next week.

The Phillies are seeking their first playoff berth in 10 years. Florida hasn't reached the postseason since winning the World Series in 1997.

Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2

LOS ANGELES - Curt Schilling won for the first time since Aug. 17 and Junior Spivey drove in two runs for Arizona. The Diamondbacks dropped Los Angeles 2 1/2 games behind Florida in the NL wild-card race and clinched a playoff berth for Atlanta.

Giants 4, Padres 2

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds hit his 656th career homer as the San Francisco Giants moved to the brink of the NL West title.

Bonds' 43rd homer of the season - his third in four days - landed in the right-field stands in the fifth as the Giants won for the 12th time in 16 games to close in on a rare wire-to-wire division title.

Bonds also claimed the NL homers lead from St. Louis' Albert Pujols, who has 42.

San Francisco's win and the Dodgers' loss reduced the Giants' magic number for clinching the division to two. With another loss by the Dodgers and a victory over the Padres tonight, the NL champions would wrap up their third playoff berth in four seasons.

Astros 14, Rockies 4

DENVER - Richard Hidalgo hit three homers and drove in five runs as Houston won for the 10th time in its last 12 games. Hidalgo matched a Houston record for homers in a game, and his RBI total was a career high.

The Astros remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

Cubs 3, Mets 2

CHICAGO - Sammy Sosa homered for the first time in more than a week, and Mark Prior struck out 13 in 8 2/3 innings. Sosa drove in all of Chicago's runs, including a two-run homer in the third inning that put the Cubs ahead.

Expos 5, Braves 4, 10 innings

MONTREAL - Greg Maddux was denied his 15th victory when Atlanta's bullpen failed to hold a three-run lead.

Hours later, the Braves (94-58) became the first major-league team this year to clinch a playoff berth when Los Angeles (80-69) lost to Arizona. Florida (83-67) and Philadelphia (83-68) cannot both match Atlanta in wins because they have five games against each other.

Maddux, making his second attempt to win No. 15, is tied with Cy Young at 15 straight 15-win seasons.

Cardinals 6, Brewers 5

ST. LOUIS - Albert Pujols had three hits to increase his major league-leading total to 202 in St. Louis' win. St. Louis remained 4 1/2 games back of first-place Houston in the NL Central.