Padres win second straight division title

PHOENIX (AP) -- It took San Diego until the final inning of the final game to lock up the NL West title.

That's fitting, because these Padres have a penchant for doing things the hard way. They watched as Trevor Hoffman, baseball's career saves leader, gave up consecutive home runs Sunday before closing out a 7-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on one of the season's strangest plays.

"It's kind of the way it's gone," San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said. "Nothing is easy."

The Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers each finished 88-74, and both teams had already clinched playoff spots. San Diego earned its second straight division title and the Dodgers got the wild card because of the tiebreaker -- the Padres went 13-5 against Los Angeles this season.

Playoff appearances of 2006 teams
Team	Team History	Times In	Pennants	Titles
Yankees	1913-2005	45	39	26
Cardinals	1900-2005	21	16	9
L.A. Dodgers	1958-2005	14	9	5
Oakland A's	1968-2005	14	6	4
Tigers	1901-2005	11	9	4
Mets	1962-2005	6	4	2
Twins	1961-2005	8	3	2
Padres	1969-2005	4	2	0

On Tuesday, the Padres will open the playoffs at home against St. Louis in a rematch from last year -- the Cardinals swept that series in three games. The Dodgers will start the postseason Wednesday at the New York Mets.

The Padres trailed the Dodgers as late as Sept. 16 before winning 12 of their final 16 games.

The last one will be hard to forget.

Knowing that a victory would clinch the division title, the Padres jumped on Arizona starter Brandon Webb (16-8). They took a 1-0 first-inning lead on Mike Piazza's RBI double, then scored six runs in the fourth to make it 7-0.

Geoff Blum and pitcher Woody Williams singled home runs, Brian Giles drew a bases-loaded walk and Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run double. Another run scored on a wild pitch.

Williams (12-5) allowed four runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, with no walks or strikeouts.

"He pitched great, and then he hit great, too," Webb said.

Williams said the 7-0 lead gave him confidence as the game wore on.

"Nothing to take away from the Diamondbacks, I believe we were just meant to win the division," Williams said. "But they gave us all that we could handle and never quit from the word 'go.' "

Webb, a leading Cy Young Award candidate, turned in his worst outing of the season. He allowed seven runs in four innings, his shortest start of the season. He gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out five.

Webb entered the game with a league-best 2.88 ERA. He left with a 3.10 ERA, which ranks third behind Houston's Roy Oswalt (2.98) and St. Louis' Chris Carpenter (3.09).

Trailing 7-0 in the fourth, the Diamondbacks rallied on two homers by Chad Tracy and another by Craig Counsell, probably playing his last game with the team.

Tracy's second homer, a solo shot, came off Hoffman and made it 7-5. The next batter, Conor Jackson, followed with a home run to cut San Diego's lead to 7-6.

Hoffman walked Carlos Quentin and then retired Chris Snyder on a fielder's choice grounder. That set up a bizarre ending.

Pinch-runner Chris Young was on first base when Alberto Callaspo hit a two-out grounder to second baseman Josh Barfield, whose throw pulled Gonzalez off first base.

But Gonzalez alertly threw to second in time to get Young, who slipped as he let the grounder get past him. Second base umpire Larry Poncino originally signaled safe when shortstop Khalil Greene failed to tag Young, then changed the call on a forceout when Bochy protested.

"It was strange," said Gonzalez, who tied a career high with four hits. "When Callaspo hit it, I saw Young jump and try and get away from the ball. I saw him fall, didn't think anything of it at the time, but when Barfield's throw was a little off line I knew I still had a shot at second."

Hoffman, the major league saves leader with 482, wound up with his 46th save in 51 chances.

It was an emotional day for the Diamondbacks, who said goodbye to fan favorite Luis Gonzalez after eight seasons. The club announced last month it would not exercise its $10 million option on the 39-year-old outfielder, the Diamondbacks' leader in most career batting categories.

A sellout crowd of 48,946, the largest regular-season crowd in team history, turned out to honor Gonzalez, whose bloop single drove home the winning run in the 2001 World Series.

The team painted a purple "20" in left field and showed tributes from fans on the center-field video board between innings.

There was also a "4" painted on the dirt behind second base to honor shortstop Craig Counsell, who is also not expected to return in 2007.

Gonzalez, Counsell and pitcher Miguel Batista, who is also unlikely to re-sign with Arizona, are the last remaining roster links to the 2001 World Series champions.

Manager Bob Melvin recognized the three players by having them deliver the lineup card to the umpires.

Counsell left on a high note, hitting a 3-2 pitch from Williams into the right-field seats for his fourth home run, prompting a curtain call from the fans.

Game notes
The Diamondbacks finished the season with a losing record for the third straight year. Their only other losing season was 1998, their inaugural season. Arizona posted winning records from 1999-2003. ... Williams, a .176 hitter, singled twice in three at-bats.