By The Associated Press

MIAMI – Somehow, Ivan Rodriguez and the Florida Marlins held on.

The 10-time All-Star catcher withstood a hard collision to tag J.T. Snow for the final out and the Marlins beat Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants 7-6 Saturday, clinching their best-of-five division series 3-1.

In typically dramatic fashion, the wild-card Marlins moved into the NL championship series to face either the Chicago Cubs or Atlanta.

“This is a start,” Rodriguez said. “We have a great team, and I think we can go all the way.”

Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins blew a 5-1 advantage before rookie Miguel Cabrera helped them regain the lead in the eighth with an RBI single.

Rodriguez scored the go-ahead run, jarring the ball loose from catcher Yorvit Torrealba. When the ball scooted away, another run scored.

Braves 6, Cubs 4

CHICAGO – Turns out Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves still had some big hits left.

And Sammy Sosa didn’t have quite enough.

With Wrigley Field fans on edge and the streets of Chicago rocking in anticipation of the Cubs winning their first postseason series since 1908, the Braves sent this NL playoff back to Atlanta for a decisive Game 5.

Jones ended his playoff slump with a two-run homer from each side of the plate, and Russ Ortiz pitched well on three days’ rest as the Braves defeated the Cubs 6-4 Saturday.

It went down to the final swing. With a run already in and a runner on second, Sosa came up with two outs for a tense matchup against star closer John Smoltz.

On a full-count pitch, Sosa took a hopeful hop as his bid for a tying, two-run homer left the bat.

, a record for a division series game.

“It was a very tough play,” Rodriguez said. “You know, Conine is a good outfielder. He threw the ball right to me.

“In that situation I’m just going to grab that ball in my glove. I don’t want to let that ball go out of my glove.”

He spoke while still clutching the ball.

During Rodriguez’s 12 seasons with the Texas Rangers, they went 1-9 in playoff games, all against the New York Yankees. At 31, he found a limited market as a free agent last winter and settled for a one-year, $10 million contract with the Marlins.

“This is what I’ve wanted for a long time,” Rodriguez said. “And there’s nothing better than me getting the last out.”

It was a triumph tough to imagine when 72-year-old manager Jack McKeon’s team trailed 1-0 in the series and 4-1 in the fifth inning of Game 2 – or when Florida was 19-29 in May. But the resilient Marlins will the start the NLCS on the road Tuesday.

“They’re just exciting guys to be around,” McKeon said. “They’ve got that fire in their eyes. They’re never going to quit. You’re going to have to beat us.”

With the victory, the Marlins saved themselves a long trip to San Francisco for a decisive Game 5 Sunday. The NL West champion Giants, the first team to clinch a division title this year, were the first to be eliminated.

“I’m proud of my guys,” manager Felipe Alou said. “They didn’t give up when they were trailing by four runs. They didn’t give up when they were trailing by two runs in the ninth inning. They made it tough for the Marlins. It wasn’t meant to be.”

The loss ended the latest bid for that elusive World Series ring by Bonds, who went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and an intentional walk.

“See y’all in spring training,” Bonds said in the somber Giants clubhouse.

After hitting a record eight home runs in the postseason last year, Bonds batted .222 in the series (2-for-9) with no homers, one double, two RBIs and eight walks, six intentional.

“I’m surely relieved,” McKeon said. “You’re managing against one guy. You know every time he comes to bat he can beat you. I’ll be damned if I was going to let him beat me.”

Florida stranded 11 runners, including at least one in scoring position in each of the first six innings. But with two out and runners on first and second in the eighth, Cabrera broke a 5-all tie with a single – his fourth hit, tying a playoff rookie record.

Right fielder Jose Cruz, the goat for the Giants on Friday, made a wide throw home as Rodriguez scored from second base. Derrek Lee scored on Torrealba’s error.

Cabrera also doubled twice and had a two-run single in the fourth. McKeon, managing in the playoffs for the first time, opted to start the rookie instead of All-Star third baseman Mike Lowell, still not 100 percent after breaking his left hand in August.

“Jack has got the Midas touch,” Lee said. “Everything he does turns to gold.”

Neifi Perez led off the Giants’ ninth with a double, and Snow singled him home. Urbina retired the next two batters but hit Ray Durham, which brought Hammonds to the plate and set the stage for the wild finish.

The game looked like a blowout after five innings. By then, Willis already had tripled and singled twice while the Giants had only one hit.

Alou wanted to start ace Jason Schmidt, who threw a three-hit shutout against the Marlins in Game 1. But the right-hander was reluctant to pitch on three days’ rest, something he has never done, so Alou went with Jerome Williams.

The right-hander was the first Giants rookie to start a postseason game since Cliff Melton in the 1937 World Series, and he retired only six batters, allowing five hits and three runs.

Notes: Willis became the first pitcher to get three hits in a postseason game since Los Angeles’ Orel Hershiser in the 1988 World Series. Willis’ achievement was the first by a rookie pitcher. … Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, perhaps afflicted with pregame jitters, skipped several measures when he performed the national anthem.

AP-ES-10-04-03 1754EDT