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Denver • Matt Cain pitched the San Francisco Giants into first place and nearly did it with a no-hitter.
Cain held the fading Colorado Rockies hitless into the eighth inning and finished the game himself, leading the Giants to a 4-2 victory Sunday that put them atop the NL West again.
San Francisco moved a half-game ahead of San Diego, which lost to Cincinnati 12-2. The Rockies, who have dropped six of seven, fell 4 ½ games behind the Giants and four back of the Padres in the wild-card race.
Mets 7, Philles 3 • The going-nowhere New York Mets made sure the Philadelphia Phillies took their champagne on the road. The Phillies, however, are at least assured of going to the playoffs.
Carlos Beltran hit a pair of homers, David Wright also connected and the Mets beat Philadelphia 7-3 on Sunday, preventing the Phillies from clinching their fourth straight NL East title at home.
Reds 12, Padres 2 • A Homer and three homers carried the Cincinnati Reds to the cusp of their first postseason berth since 1995.
Homer Bailey helped shut down the Padres while Chris Heisey homered and hit a three-run double, leading the Reds to a 12-2 romp over San Diego on Sunday that reduced their magic number to one for winning the NL Central.
Nationals 4, Braves 2 • The Braves lost 4-2 to the last-place Washington Nationals on Sunday in a game in which every run allowed by the Atlanta pitching staff reached base with a free pass and in which Bobby Cox's team went 0 for 5 with two bags occupied.
Atlanta heads home for the final week of the season spinning its wheels, still in the wild-card picture but not playing anything close to playoff baseball in Cox's managerial homestretch.
Mariners 6, Rays 2 • No need for the Tampa Bay Rays to make a U-turn to Tropicana Field.
Josh Wilson hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the sixth inning off James Shields and the Seattle Mariners stalled AL East-leading Tampa Bay 6-2, breaking the Rays' four-game winning streak.
Rangers 16, Athletics 9 • Rookie Mitch Moreland was too busy working on his approach at the plate to bother worrying about making the playoff roster. He gave the Texas coaching staff something to ponder, though.
Moreland homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs, leading the AL West champion Texas Rangers past Trevor Cahill and the Oakland Athletics 16-9 Sunday.
Tigers 5, Twins 1 • Miguel Cabrera hit his career-high 38th homer Sunday to help Detroit beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1 in its final home game of the year.
The Twins became the first AL team to clinch their dividion on Friday.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 3 • On a night when Mariano Rivera and Jonathan Papelbon both failed to hold ninth-inning leads, Juan Miranda drew a bases-loaded walk from Hideki Okajima in the 10th that gave the New York Yankees a dramatic 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
New York stopped a four-game losing streak that matched its season high. The Yankees cut the magic number to one for their 15th playoff berth in 16 years and closed within a half-game of AL East-leading Tampa Bay.