Brandon Backe filled in for an ailing Roger Clemens (stomach virus), pitching five strong innings and driving in two runs.

Houston won the final seven games of the regular season and nine of the last 10 to complete an amazing late-season push for the playoffs under manager Phil Garner, who replaced Jimy Williams at the All-Star break.

"This is almost just a big release," said a smiling Garner, drenched in the bubbly and clutching an unlit cigar. "People thought we were dead in the water and we worked all the way back and changed that. This is just a great ending to what became an improbable year for us."

Garner and his team donned silver-and-white caps with a shooting star logo and the words "Wild Card" in capital letters.

The Astros were a season-worst 56-60 on Aug. 14 - four days later they lost star pitcher Andy Pettitte to season-ending elbow surgery. But they rallied and won an exciting stretch duel with the Giants, Cubs and Padres.

Giants 10, Dodgers 0

LOS ANGELES - San Francisco's Jason Schmidt (18-7) allowed two hits in six dominant innings in a meaningless regular-season finale.

While the Dodgers traveled to St. Louis afterward, the Giants headed home for the offseason. As he promised beforehand, Giants manager Felipe Alou removed Barry Bonds and several other regulars shortly after the Rockies-Astros game ended.

Bonds, who popped out and walked, won his second NL batting title in three seasons and shattered the on-base percentage and walks record he set two years ago.

The 40-year-old outfielder hit .362 and finished with a .610 on-base percentage, topping his old mark of .582. Bonds walked 232 times, 34 more than the record he set in 2002, and his 120 intentional walks obliterated the previous record of 68, also set by him two years ago.

"Now you guys can go to the Dodgers and the Angels and the Yankees and Boston and Houston and go bother them," Bonds told reporters. "We controlled our own fate; we lost yesterday. That's the bottom line. I mean, you're upset, but you move on. It's life. It's baseball. Just turn it off and go to the next thing."

Mets 8, Expos 1

NEW YORK - The Expos lost their final game before moving to Washington, and Todd Zeile hit a three-run homer in his final at-bat.

The game was also the last for Art Howe as the Mets' manager. He was fired Sept. 15, but chose to stay on to finish out a dismal season in which the Mets went 71-91.

The Expos got off to a good start Sunday, scoring a run on Terrmel Sledge's RBI single, but didn't have any success against Tom Glavine (11-14) afterward, mustering just three hits in his six innings.

Sledge got the Expos' final hit - Bob Bailey had the first - in the eighth off John Franco, who was making his 695th and perhaps last appearance for New York.

David Wright hit a two-run homer off John Patterson (4-7), making Montreal's last start - Mudcat Grant made the Expos' first.

Cardinals 9, Brewers 4

ST. LOUIS - Ray Lankford hit a two-run pinch-hit homer in what could've been his final game with St. Louis.

Albert Pujols doubled twice, So Taguchi doubled and tripled and Yadier Molina homered for the NL Central champions, who won only two of their last seven games. St. Louis finished a major league-best 105-57, one win shy of the franchise record for victories set in 1942.

The Cardinals open the playoffs at home on Tuesday against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lyle Overbay and Keith Ginter had RBI doubles for the Brewers, who finished 67-94 - one victory behind last season's total. The Brewers have had 12 straight losing seasons, tied with the Pirates for the longest current run of futility.

Kiko Calero (3-1) allowed one hit in a scoreless fourth. Brewers starter Jorge de la Rosa (0-3) worked five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits.

Cubs 10, Braves 8

CHICAGO - Greg Maddux beat Atlanta in his first appearance against the Braves in 12 years.

Maddux (16-11) worked six innings and gave up a pair of homers to Charles Thomas while yielding six runs.

The Cubs, eliminated from the wild-card race Saturday after losing seven of eight games, got homers from Moises Alou, Mark Grudzielanek and rookie Jason Dubois in the season finale at Wrigley Field.

Atlanta will start the postseason at home Wednesday against Houston.

Maddux now has 305 victories, 194 with the Braves and 111 for the Cubs.

LaTroy Hawkins worked the ninth for his 25th save in 34 chances.

Paul Byrd (8-7) lasted just four innings, giving up nine hits and nine runs.

Phillies 10, Marlins 4

PHILADELPHIA - Bobby Abreu hit his 30th homer and Jimmy Rollins had a grand slam.

Marlins outfielder Juan Pierre became just the third player since 1971 to play every one of his team's innings in the field, joining Detroit's Travis Fryman (1995) and Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr. (1983-86).

The Phillies made a winner of Gary Varsho, who managed the last two games and lost in his debut Saturday. General manager Ed Wade said the future of the rest of the coaching staff would be decided this week.

Brett Myers (11-11) allowed three runs and five hits in five innings.

Abreu hit a solo homer off Ismael Valdez (14-9) in the third to join the 30-30 club for the second time. He finished with 30 homers and 40 stolen bases. Abreu had 31 homers and 36 stolen bases in 2001 and is the only Phillies player in the 30-30 club.

Diamondbacks 4, Padres 1

PHOENIX - Doug DeVore, Robby Hammock and Juan Brito hit rare home runs, and the Diamondbacks ended a miserable season on a positive note.

Three years after Arizona beat the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series, the Diamondbacks went a major league-worst 51-111.

Even with wins Saturday and Sunday, Arizona tied for the 10th-most losses by a team in major league history and finished with the most in the National League since the 1965 New York Mets went 50-112.

Brandon Webb (7-16) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings and walked none. Greg Aquino got his 16th save.

David Wells (12-8) gave up four runs and six hits in five innings.

Indians 5, Twins 2

MINNEAPOLIS - Ben Broussard hit a two-run homer to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on a strange Sunday afternoon and send the AL Central champions to Yankee Stadium for the start of the playoffs.

Twenty minutes before the originally scheduled game began, the Twins beat the Indians 6-5 in 12 innings to finish Saturday's suspended game more than 26 hours after it began. Michael Cuddyer's two-out double scored Jason Bartlett from first base to end it.

Minnesota (92-70), which won its third straight division title, plays the AL East champion Yankees at New York on Tuesday in Game 1. The Anaheim Angels, the AL West champs, will host the wild-card Boston Red Sox in the other first-round series.

Kyle Lohse (9-13) won the first game with a scoreless 12th inning, then started the second game and lost, giving up five hits and three runs before leaving after the fourth inning with a blister.

Cliff Lee (14-8) pitched seven sharp innings in the second game.

Bob Wickman got three outs for his 13th save in 14 chances. David Riske (7-3) gave up Cuddyer's hit in the first game.

The teams were tied at 5 after 11 innings Saturday when play was halted at 2:33 p.m. because the Metrodome field needed to be converted for a college football game between Penn State and Minnesota.

Orioles 3, Red Sox 2

BALTIMORE - Miguel Tejada drove in his major league-leading 150th run, and the Red Sox found out they'll be opening the playoffs in Anaheim.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona substituted liberally throughout the game in order to rest his regulars for the postseason. Starter Derek Lowe, who will used out of the bullpen in the first playoff series, gave up one run in two innings before being lifted.

Bruce Chen (2-1) pitched three innings of one-hit relief. B.J. Ryan got four outs for his third save.

Baltimore took a 3-2 lead in the fifth with an unearned run off Scott Williamson (0-1).

Johnny Damon's double in the fourth was Boston's 373rd of the season, matching a major league record.

Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2

TORONTO - Bernie Williams hit a tiebreaking homer off Josh Towers (9-9) in the eighth inning, and the New York Yankees learned they will host Minnesota on Tuesday in the opening round of the playoffs.

New York finished 101-61, joining Atlanta (1997-99), Baltimore (1969-71) and the Philadelphia Athletics (1929-31) as the only teams with three straight 100-win seasons. The Yankees went 103-58 in 2002 and 101-61 last year.

Yankees manager Joe Torre hinted he might keep 11 pitchers on his roster for the first round, including Kevin Brown and Orlando Hernandez. El Duque has been bothered by a tired arm in his last two starts.

That decision could mean Jason Giambi won't be included. He was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts Sunday - fanning with the bases loaded and two outs in the first - and is 4-for-33 (.121) since he was activated from the disabled list.

Scott Proctor (2-1) pitched the seventh inning for the win in relief of Brad Halsey, who allowed one run and five hits in five innings.

White Sox 5, Royals 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jose Contreras took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and ended Chicago's season with eight strong innings.

Kansas City set a team record for losses by going 58-104, breaking the mark set when the Royals went 62-100 in 2000.

Contreras (13-9) did not allow a hit until Ruben Gotay singled to right leading off the seventh, ending a streak of 16 straight batters retired. The right-hander allowed two hits in eight innings, struck out four and walked two.

Zack Greinke (8-11) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings. He went 0-2 in his last four starts.

Kansas City was shut out 13 times, matching Tampa Bay for the most in the American League.

Devil Rays 7, Tigers 4

DETROIT - Tampa Bay set a franchise record with their 70th victory.

Detroit (72-90) bounced back with a relatively respectable season - improving by 29 victories - after losing an AL-record 119 games in 2003.

Matt Diaz hit a two-run triple in a four-run third inning. John Halama (7-6) gave up two runs on seven hits and no walks through five innings.

Nate Robertson (12-10) gave up six runs - five earned - on 10 hits while striking out six in five innings.

Athletics 3, Angels 2

OAKLAND, Calif. - Rookie Nick Swisher singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and Oakland defeated playoff-bound Anaheim.

Aaron Sele pitched into the seventh inning, and Jeff DaVanon hit an RBI triple for the Angels, who won seven of their previous eight and clinched the AL West on Saturday.

Anaheim opens the division series at home Tuesday afternoon against Boston and Curt Schilling. Jarrod Washburn probably will pitch for the Angels.

The A's tied the game in the seventh on a two-run double by Adam Melhuse that followed Swisher's leadoff single and a double by Jermaine Dye.

Swisher lined a single to left off Kevin Gregg (5-2) to score Eric Byrnes from third. Justin Duchscherer (7-6) worked two scoreless innings for the win.

Tim Hudson allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings, struck out six and didn't walk a batter.

Rangers 3, Mariners 0

SEATTLE - Ichiro Suzuki got two final hits and Edgar Martinez grounded into a double play in his last at-bat.

Chan Ho Park (4-7) pitched two-hit ball over seven innings and Laynce Nix homered for Texas.

Suzuki pushed his major league record for hits in a season to 262 with singles in the third inning off Park and in the eighth off Brian Shouse. Suzuki broke George Sisler's 1920 mark of 257 hits on Friday.

Suzuki won his second AL batting title and led the majors in hitting at .372.

Martinez, Seattle's retiring designated hitter, went 0-for-4 but received a rousing ovation from the sellout crowd of 45,658 after grounding into a double play in the eighth.

Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 49th save in 54 opportunities.

Gil Meche (7-7) pitched six innings, allowing three runs on nine hits.

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