Giants beat Padres to win NL West

Jonathan Sanchez pitched the Giants back into the playoffs after a six-season absence, beating the Padres, 3-0, Sunday to wrap up the NL West title.

The Giants finally got it done at home - on their third try against the Padres over the weekend - and captured their first division crown and playoff berth since 2003. They trailed San Diego by 61/2 games Aug. 25 before the Padres lost 10 in a row.

The Giants will host the wild-card Braves starting Thursday.

"We nailed it," Giants outfielder Pat Burrell said. "It was looking like it was heading the wrong way. Our guys toughed it out."

San Diego missed a chance to force a playoff with the Giants today at PETCO Park to decide the West title. The loser of that game would have flown to Atlanta to determine the wild card.

When Will Venable struck out swinging for the final out, catcher Buster Posey ran out to closer Brian Wilson. The rest of the Giants joined them, and gray NL West champion shirts were handed out quickly. The Giants took a victory lap along the outfield warning track, slapping hands with fans leaning over the fence.

The Padres had only four hits and were shut out for the 12th time.

Sanchez (13-9) pitched into the sixth and gave up three hits and five walks. He also tripled off rookie Mat Latos (14-10) and scored the game's first run in the third inning.

Braves win wild cardThe Braves are the NL wild card, a first for retiring manager Bobby Cox. Tim Hudson and the Braves took a six-run lead and held on for an 8-7 win over the Phillies. Then the Braves watched on TV in their clubhouse at Turner Field as the Giants gave them the wild card by a game over San Diego.

The Braves won 14 straight division titles with Cox but had missed the playoffs since 2005.

Jays hit 257 homersEdwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind added two home runs to Toronto's major league-leading total in a 2-1 road win over the playoff-bound Twins, Jays manager Cito Gaston's career finale. The Blue Jays went deep 257 times, tying the 1996 Orioles for third-most in history. The 1997 Mariners have the record with 264 homers. Farewell to Torre

On his final day managing the Dodgers, Joe Torre went old school. "I did something that hasn't been done for years,'' Torre said. "I wrote out a lineup card. No computer today." He ended with a 3-1 win over Arizona . . . Brewers manager Ken Macha said management told him he won't be back next season.