Astros Wrap Up Wild Turnabout

Phil Garner savored the taste of champagne, the smell of his cigar and the wild celebration in the Houston Astros’ clubhouse.

Garner had known nothing but bitter endings after 10 mostly terrible seasons as a manager in Milwaukee and Detroit. He seemed to be headed toward another awful year after taking over the slumping Astros at the All-Star break.

But Garner and the Astros capped a remarkable late-season turnaround Sunday by clinching the National League wild card with a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies, their 18th consecutive home victory.

The Astros will play the NL East-champion Atlanta Braves in a best-of-five series beginning Wednesday at Atlanta.

“This is almost just a big release,” Garner said. “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.”

Brandon Backe (5-3) filled in admirably for Roger Clemens, pitching five strong innings and driving in two runs. Clemens had a stomach virus.

The Astros won nine of their last 10 games to complete an amazing push for the playoffs under Garner, who replaced Jimy Williams when the club was 44-44. Houston is 36-10 since Aug. 14.

Eventually, Garner and his team donned silver-and-white caps with the Astros’ shooting star logo and the words “Wild Card” in capital letters.

“Gar has just come in here and brought a relaxed atmosphere,” outfielder Lance Berkman said. “He knew that we had a better team than we were showing on the field. He’s a fiery guy and he really has his own style and maybe that little shakeup was just the kind of thing that we needed to get us going.”

St. Louis 9, Milwaukee 4 -- Ray Lankford hit a two-run pinch-hit homer at St. Louis in what could have been his last game with the Cardinals.

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. The Cardinals finished a major league-best 105-57, one win shy of the franchise record for victories set in 1942.

Chicago 10, Atlanta 8 -- 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, Greg Maddux pitched six innings at Chicago and beat the Braves.

Maddux (16-11), who spent 11 seasons with the Braves and rejoined the Cubs as a free agent in the off-season, had 15 wins for a major league-record 17th consecutive season. He has 305 victories, 194 with the Braves and 111 with the Cubs.

Philadelphia 10, Florida 4 -- Bobby Abreu hit his 30th homer and Jimmy Rollins had a grand slam at Philadelphia.

Florida outfielder Juan Pierre became only 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).

Abreu hit a solo homer against Ismael Valdez (14-9) in the third inning 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 Phillie player in the 30-30 club.

Arizona 4, San Diego 1 -- Doug DeVore, Robby Hammock and Juan Brito hit home runs to help the Diamondbacks win at Phoenix.

Three years after they beat the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series, the Diamondbacks finished a major league-worst 51-111. Arizona’s previous worst record was 65-97 in 1998, its first season.

The Diamondbacks tied for the 10th-most losses by a team in major league history and finished with the most in the NL since the 1965 New York Mets finished 50-112.

Pittsburgh 2, Cincinnati 0 -- Barry Larkin played in what might have been his last game with Cincinnati.

The 40-year-old shortstop, who has spent all 19 seasons with the Reds, started the game at Cincinnati and was replaced after three innings -- getting a proper send-off from fans and teammates.

Larkin will be free agent after the World Series, but wants to play another season in Cincinnati or elsewhere.

New York 8, Montreal 1 -- The Expos lost their last game before moving to Washington, and Todd Zeile hit a three-run homer in his last at-bat.

The game at New York was also the last for Art Howe as the Mets’ manager. He was fired Sept. 15 but chose to finish the season.