Margin widens for Astros
Wild-card lead up to 2 1/2
Roy Oswalt (19-12) won for the fourth time this month, helping the Houston Astros extend their wild-card lead to 2 1/2 games with a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals last night in St. Louis.
Jason Lane hit a two-run homer and Craig Biggio hit his 25th, setting a career best.
The Philadelphia Phillies' 3-2 loss to the Mets gave the Astros a bigger cushion. Houston's victory also eliminated New York from playoff contention.
Matt Morris (14-10) lost his career-worst fifth straight decision despite working six solid innings.
Larry Walker had three hits in his first game back after a fourth cortisone shot for a herniated disk in his neck and scored the Cardinals' lone run.
Mets 3, Phillies 2 -- Jose Reyes was 4 for 5 with three extra-base hits, leading New York over host Philadelphia.
The loss clinched the East title for Atlanta, its unprecedented 14th straight division crown.
Jimmy Rollins extended his hitting streak to a team-record 32 games with a single in the seventh for Philadelphia.
Braves 12, Rockies 3 -- Atlanta wrapped up its 14th straight division championship even before its rout of visiting Colorado because of the Phillie's loss.
Padres 9, Giants 6 -- Ramon Hernandez hit a go-ahead grand slam and drove in a career-high seven runs to lead host San Diego over San Francisco, reducing its magic number to two for clinching the West crown.
Nationals 11, Marlins 1 -- Seeking his 23d victory, Dontrelle Willis (22-10) gave up a career-high nine runs -- four unearned -- to Washington, which eliminated Florida from the wild-card race.
Brewers 6, Reds 2 -- Rick Helling (3-1) allowed three hits over six innings and Milwaukee climbed above .500 for the first time in four months by beating visiting Cincinnati.
Pirates 5, Cubs 3 -- Jason Bay's three-run homer offset a roundtripper by Nomar Garciaparra (No. 9) to lift visiting Pittsburgh.
Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 0 -- Brandon Webb (14-11) allowed two hits over seven innings, Chad Tracy hit a two-run homer in the eighth, and Arizona blanked Los Angeles.
