PITTSBURGH — The Los Angeles Dodgers are back in the playoffs.

Manny Ramirez, Joe Torre and the Dodgers clinched at least the NL wild-card berth with their 8-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.

It’s the third time in four years that Los Angeles has reached the postseason.

The Dodgers also reduced their magic number to three for securing their second consecutive NL West title. They last won the division in successive seasons in 1977 and ’78.

Torre tied Braves manager Bobby Cox’s record of reaching the playoffs in 14 straight seasons. Cox led Atlanta to 14 consecutive division titles from 1991-2005.

Giants 6, Cubs 2
SAN FRANCISCO — Aramis Ramirez homered, Jake Fox hit a two-run single and the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 6-2 on Saturday for their sixth win in seven games.

Chicago’s victory again kept the Cardinals from clinching the NL Central. St. Louis had a magic number of one and could capture the division with a victory Saturday night at Colorado.

Tom Gorzelanny (7-2) won consecutive starts for the first time all season and his third straight decision, following Carlos Zambrano’s two-hit gem a night earlier with five solid innings of his own. The left-hander returned to the rotation Sept. 21 after a 3½-week stint in the bullpen.

Gorzelanny allowed one run and five hits, struck out five and walked three. Acquired by the Cubs on July 30 from Pittsburgh, he hadn’t won consecutive starts since Aug. 22 and 28, 2007, with the Pirates.

Barry Zito (10-13) gave up four runs and six hits in four innings for the Giants, who absorbed their seventh loss in 10 games and are spiraling downward to seriously diminish their chances in the wild-card race.

Braves 11, Nationals 5

WASHINGTON — Tommy Hanson pitched seven innings for his 11th win, Yunel Escobar drove in three runs and the Braves earned their fifth consecutive victory.

Atlanta pulled within three games of NL wild card-leading Colorado, which was scheduled to play St. Louis later in the day. The Braves (84-70) have won 13 of 15 and are 50-30 since June 27, improving to a season-best 14 games over .500.

Hanson (11-4) allowed four hits and four runs – three of them on Mike Morse’s pinch-hit homer. The impressive rookie, who made his major league debut on June 7, struck out seven and walked one.

Garrett Mock (3-10), who lost his fifth consecutive decision, allowed six runs, four earned, and seven hits in five innings.

Brian McCann hit a two-run homer in Atlanta’s five-run ninth.

Reds 10, Astros 4

HOUSTON — Jay Bruce and Laynce Nix homered and drove in three runs apiece, helping the Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros 10-4 on Saturday night for their sixth consecutive win.

Juan Francisco and Corky Miller each had two RBIs for the Reds, who have won 10 of 12 and 23 of 33 overall. They beat the Astros for the ninth straight time.

Miguel Tejada was 4 for 4 with two RBIs for the Astros, who have lost 11 of 12 and dropped to 1-4 under interim manager Dave Clark.

Marlins 9, Mets 6.

MIAMI – Injury replacement Cameron Maybin hit a three-run homer in Florida’s seven-run fifth and the Marlins rallied to beat the New York Mets 9-6 on Saturday night.

Maybin ran for Cody Ross in the fourth inning after Ross was hit on the left hand by a pitch from John Maine (6-6). He hit his third homer an inning later to give Florida a 7-3 cushion.

Maine allowed seven runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings. He struck out three, walked two, threw two wild pitches and hit consecutive batters in the fourth.

Sean West (8-6) worked five innings for Florida, yielding three runs, two earned and seven hits.

The Marlins were five games back of wild card-leading Colorado with eight games left entering the day.

Former Astros ace Roger Clemens was on the field before the game to videotape his son Koby being honored as one of Houston’s top minor league players. Koby Clemens hit .345 with 121 RBIs at Class A Lancaster to top all Astros farmhands in those categories.

Tigers 12, White Sox 5.

CHICAGO — Miguel Cabrera got four hits and drove in four runs, giving him at least 100 RBIs for the sixth consecutive season, and the Detroit Tigers rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox 12-5 on Saturday night.

Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco and Gerald Laird each had three of Detroit’s 20 hits, including singles in the decisive seventh inning, to help the Tigers win for the fifth time in six games.

The first-place Tigers, two games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central entering Saturday, host the Twins in a four-game series beginning Monday.

Brewers 7, Phillies 5.

MILWAUKEE — Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer off reliever Tyler Walker in the ninth, giving the Milwaukee Brewers a 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

It was Braun’s 30th home run of the season and second career game-ending homer. The loss went to Walker (2-1), one of the pitchers the Phillies were considering as a replacement for struggling closer Brad Lidge.

With the loss, the Phillies’ magic number of wins or Atlanta Braves losses needed to clinch the NL East remained stuck at four. The Braves didn’t cooperate earlier in the day, beating Washington 11-5.

Trevor Hoffman (2-2) pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the win for Milwaukee.

Blue Jays 5, Mariners 4

TORONTO — Adam Lind homered twice, including a game-ending solo drive in the 10th inning, to power the Blue Jays to a victory over the Mariners that included Seattle star Ichiro Suzuki’s first career ejection.

Jose Bautista also went deep for the Blue Jays, who have homered in seven straight games and have 33 longballs in September, tops in the majors.

Suzuki was thrown out by plate umpire Brian Runge for arguing a called third strike in the fifth, the first ejection of the season for the Mariners and the first of the All-Star outfielder’s career, including his years in Japan.

Suzuki used his bat to draw a line on the outer edge of the plate, indicating he thought David Purcey’s strike three pitch was outside. That led to the ejection.

Lind hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth, and won it with a leadoff drive in the 10th off Shawn Kelley (5-4), his 32nd. Jason Frasor (7-3) pitched two innings for the win.

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