DENVER — Matt Holliday celebrated another playoff clincher at Coors Field, only this time it was with the St. Louis Cardinals and not the Colorado Rockies.
Holliday keyed a threerun rally in the first inning and the Cardinals clinched the NL Central crown when they beat the Rockies 6-3 Saturday night behind Adam Wainwright's 19th victory.
Jason LaRue, subbing at catcher for injured All-Star Yadier Molina, homered off Ubaldo Jimenez to break a seventh-inning tie, and now Holliday has another special memory at the ballpark on Blake Street.
"It didn't matter where it was," Holliday said. "I have a lot of friends over there. It's a new team and a new experience, a totally different thing."
Holliday, who spent a decade in the Rockies organization before being traded last winter, was at the center of one of the enduring images from the Rockies' remarkable 21-1 run-up to their World Series appearance in 2007. He scored the winning run in Colorado's 13-inning victory over San Diego in the NL wild-card tiebreaker that year, dribbling his chin though the batter's box on his headfirst slide to the plate.
The red splashed across his chest this time was there on purpose.
"I don't have any blood on my chin," Holliday said, scratching his stubble and grinning. "That's weird."
Colorado's lead in the NL wild-1 card race shrunk to 2 /2 games over the Atlanta Braves, who beat Washington 11-5 Saturday.
The Cardinals, the first major league team to win its division, are headed back to the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2006 World Series. Led by the 1-2 punch of slugger Albert Pujols and Holliday, whom they acquired from Oakland at midseason, the Cardinals have been alone atop the division since Aug. 7.
They became the third team to secure a playoff spot, joining the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
"We played good baseball tonight," Holliday said before donning swimming goggles to protect him from all the champagne being sprayed around. "They're trying to win a playoff spot just like we are. It was good baseball."
Wainwright (19-8) allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, and 10 hits over 8 innings while also contributing a pair of two-out doubles. He escaped an eighth-inning jam by striking outClint Barmes and pinch-hitter Jason Giambi, both looking, to strand runners on first and second.
"He might have won the [Cy Young] award in the eighth inning," Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa said of his right-hander, who walked one and struck out 11 while throwing a career-high 130 pitches.
CUBS 6, GIANTS 2
Aramis Ramirez homered, Jake Fox hit a two-run single and visiting Chicago beat San Francisco for its sixth victory in seven games.
BREWERS 7, PHILLIES 5
Ryan Braun hit a two-run home run off reliever Tyler Walker in the ninth, giving Milwaukee a victory over visiting Philadelphia.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, PADRES 5
Seldomused Chad Tracy snapped an 0-for-18 slump with a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning, sending Daniel Schlereth to his first major league victory as Arizona beat visiting San Diego.
DODGERS 8, PIRATES 4
Los Angeles is back in the playoffs. Manny Ramirez, Joe Torre and the visiting Dodgers clinched at least the NL wild-card berth with their victory over Pittsburgh. It's the third time in four years that Los Angeles has reached the postseason. Torre tied Braves Manager Bobby Cox's record of reaching the playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons.
MARLINS 9, METS 6 Injury replacement Cameron Maybin hit a three-run home run in Florida's seven-run fifth and the Marlins rallied to beat visiting New York.
REDS 10, ASTROS 4 Jay Bruce and Laynce Nix homered and drove in three runs apiece, helping visiting Cincinnati beat Houston for its sixth consecutive victory.
American League
YANKEES 3, RED SOX 0
CC Sabathia combined on a two-hitter to become the major leagues' first 19-game winner, Robinson Cano hit a tiebreaking, opposite-field home run off the top of the left-field fence and New York closed in on the AL East title with a victory over visiting Boston.
BLUE JAYS 5, MARINERS 4
Adam Lind homered twice, including a game-ending shot in the 11th inning, to power Toronto to a victory over visiting Seattle.
INDIANS 9, ORIOLES 8
Jhonny Peralta hit a game-ending RBI single to give Cleveland a victory over visiting Baltimore, extending the Orioles' losing streak to nine games.
RANGERS 15, RAYS 3
Marlon Byrd homered twice, including his sixth career grand slam in an 11-run fifth inning, and Texas beat visiting Tampa Bay.
TIGERS 12, WHITE SOX 5
Miguel Cabrera got four hits and drove in four runs, giving him at least 100 RBI for the sixth consecutive season, and visiting Detroit rallied from a five-run deficit to beat Chicago.
TWINS 11, ROYALS 6
Denard Span had four hits and a career-high six RBI, leading visiting Minnesota to a victory over Kansas City.
Saturday's games NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta 11, Washington 5 Chicago Cubs 6, San Francisco 2 Cincinnati 10, Houston 4 LA Dodgers 8, Pittsburgh 4 Milwaukee 7, Philadelphia 5 Florida 9, NY Mets 6 Arizona 8, San Diego 5 St. Louis 6, Colorado 3 AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 5, Seattle 4, 10 innings NY Yankees 3, Boston 0 Cleveland 9, Baltimore 8 Detroit 12, Chicago White Sox 5 Minnesota 11, Kansas City 6 Texas 15, Tampa Bay 3 Oakland 15, LA Angels 10
Sports, Pages 27, 30 on 09/27/2009