HOUSTON – The Houston Astros charged into the playoffs with their 18th consecutive home victory, capping an incredible turnaround by beating Colorado 5-3 Sunday to win the NL wild card.

Brandon Backe filled in admirably for an ailing Roger Clemens, 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.

Cubs 10, Braves 8

CHICAGO – Greg Maddux beat the Atlanta Braves in his first appearance against his former team in 12 years, and the Chicago Cubs ended a disappointing stretch run with a 10-8 victory Sunday.

Facing the Braves for the first time since July 10, 1992, the last year of his first stint with the Cubs and his first Cy Young Award season, Maddux worked six innings and gave up a pair of homers to Charles Thomas while yielding six runs.

Cardinals 9, Brewers 4

ST. LOUIS – Ray Lankford may have given himself a nice going-away present.

The seldom-used outfielder had a two-run pinch-hit homer in what could’ve been his final game with St. Louis, helping the Cardinals finish the regular season on a strong note with a 9-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

Mets 8, Expos 1

NEW YORK – The Montreal Expos ended their 36-year run right where it all started.

The Expos lost their final game before moving to Washington, with Todd Zeile hitting a three-run homer – his 253rd – in his final at-bat in the New York Mets’ 8-1 victory Sunday.

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.

Giants 10, Dodgers 0

LOS ANGELES – In a regular-season finale that resembled an exhibition game and was about as meaningful, Jason Schmidt pitched six dominant innings, Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz hit first-inning homers and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-0 on Sunday.

The Dodgers left for St. Louis, where they’ll face the Cardinals beginning Tuesday in their first postseason appearance in eight years. Odalis Perez (7-6) will pitch for Los Angeles against Woody Williams (11-8).

Phillies 10, Marlins 4

PHILADELPHIA – Bobby Abreu hit his 30th homer and Jimmy Rollins had a grand slam to lead Philadelphia to a 10-4 victory over the Florida Marlins on Sunday, a day after the Phillies fired manager Larry Bowa.

D-backs 4, Padres 1

PHOENIX – The Arizona Diamondbacks finished their worst year on a winning streak.

Doug DeVore, Robby Hammock and Juan Brito hit rare home runs, and the Diamondbacks ended a miserable season Sunday with a 4-1 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Pirates 2, Reds 0

CINCINNATI – Barry Larkin said goodbye, just in case.

The Reds captain played in what might have been his final game for his hometown team Sunday, a 2-0 victory by the Pittsburgh Pirates, then told fans he hopes to be back.

Athletics 3, Angels 2

OAKLAND, Calif. – Rookie Nick Swisher singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Oakland Athletics defeated the playoff-bound Anaheim Angels 3-2 on Sunday.

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.

Devil Rays 7, Tigers 4

DETROIT – The Tampa Bay Devil Rays set a franchise record with their 70th victory, beating the Detroit Tigers 7-4 Sunday behind Matt Diaz and John Halama.

Tampa Bay (70-91) won two of three against the Tigers in the season-ending series to surpass the 69 wins it reached two other times since beginning play in 1998. The Devil Rays played 161 games because its game on Sept. 26 against Toronto was canceled due to Hurricane Jeanne.

Twins 6, Indians 5

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.

Rangers 3, Mariners 0

SEATTLE – Ichiro Suzuki got two final hits and Edgar Martinez grounded into a double play in his last at-bat in the Seattle Mariners’ 3-0 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

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

Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2

TORONTO – Bernie Williams hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, and the New York Yankees headed to the playoffs with a 3-2 win Sunday over the Toronto Blue Jays in their final game of the regular season.

New York, which opens the postseason Tuesday at home against Minnesota or Anaheim, 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.

White Sox 5, Royals 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jose Contreras took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, and the Chicago White Sox ended a disappointing season with a 5-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

Chicago, slowed by injuries to Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez, finished 83-79, second to Minnesota in the AL Central.