The Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs clinched playoff spots, leaving just two spots up for grabs with two clear front-runners 24 hours after seven teams appeared ready to fight to the final day for four playoff berths.

Arizona's 4-2 win over the Colorado Rockies, coupled with a loss by the New York Mets, assured the Diamondbacks of a spot in the postseason.

Chicago's 6-0 win at Cincinnati, along with Milwaukee's 6-3 loss to San Diego, gave the Cubs the NL Central title.

"Hopefully we can have a few more little parties like this," said Lou Piniella, who enjoyed a champagne shower in his first season as the Cubs manager. "They're fun."

The NL East came into sharper focus as well, with Philadelphia beating Washington 6-0 to take a one-game lead over the free-falling Mets, who lost 7-4 to the Florida Marlins.

The Phillies' magic number in the East is two. They can force a tiebreaker with one win or one Mets loss in the final two days.

"You don't have nothing until you have it," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Do we smell it? Of course we smell it, and we want it."

The NL West and wild-card race - since both will likely come from that division - also became more clear. The Padres are two games ahead of the Rockies and Mets, and their magic number to clinch a playoff berth is one.

The Brewers were eliminated from postseason contention.

The Diamondbacks were the first team to clinch, although they didn't know it. The manual scoreboard at Coors Field hadn't shown that the Mets' loss to Florida was final.

"We went out there and were like, 'We're not going to storm the field, they're still in the ninth,'" ace Brandon Webb said. "It went final and someone yelled from the dugout, 'We did it!'"

Then, the celebration of Arizona's first postseason party since 2002 really started with a scrum behind second base as the relievers rushed in from the bullpen in center field. It continued with 10 cases of champagne used to shower the clubhouse.

The Cubs knew they had clinched at least a tie after beating the Reds, but had to wait about an hour for the Brewers' game to end before knowing for sure they were NL Central champions.

Now, they get another chance to make a run at their first World Series title since 1908.

"We're as good as anybody going into the playoffs," closer Ryan Dempster said. "We've played as good as anybody. Since the All-Star break, we've been playing great."

In NL games with no playoff implications, it was: St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 1; Atlanta 7, Houston 2; and Los Angeles 8, San Francisco 3.

At New York, All-Star third baseman David Wright couldn't find the bag to make an important force play, Oliver Perez hit a pair of batters with the bases loaded and the Mets stumbled out of the NL East lead with a loss to the last-place Marlins.

"I think it's embarrassing," Wright said in an eerily silent clubhouse. "It's pretty pathetic that we have this division within our grasp with seven home games and we can't find a way to win one of them. It's a bad feeling."

New York has lost five straight and 11 of 15. The Mets' eighth straight home loss dropped them out of first place for the first time since May 15.

"It doesn't feel real good right now but we've still got to get a win so we can have a chance," manager Willie Randolph said. "We don't know what's going to happen down the pipe but we have to take care of ourself first."

At Philadelphia, Cole Hamels (15-5) shut down the Nationals with a combination of an overpowering fastball and a nasty curve mixed in with his trademark changeup. He allowed six hits and walked one.

The All-Star lefty struck out 10 of 13 batters at one point and hardly broke a sweat.

Clay Condrey finished the six-hitter for Philadelphia's fifth shutout.

"At this point of the season, it's key to go out and have your best game ever," Hamels said. At Milwaukee, the Padres assured themselves that at the worst, they'll be playing Monday.

With so many teams left in contention, Greg Maddux (14-11) enjoyed pondering all the playoff scenarios.

"It's fun to talk about it, you know," said Maddux, who got his 347th win. "I mean, we could go to New York, Philly, Chicago or play at home. I guess we can't go to Arizona or Colorado. Or, we can have a one-game playoff anywhere, really, on Monday."

On the other side of the ballpark, the fun suddenly evaporated from Milwaukee's clubhouse.

"We didn't do what we needed to do," Brewers manager Ned Yost said.

Despite the promise of a hot start in April and a big division lead in June, Milwaukee missed the playoffs once again.

"Our kids gave their very, very best effort to see that happen," Yost said. "They just fell a little short."

Braves 7, Astros 2

At Houston, Jeff Francoeur hit the go-ahead two-run homer to help Atlanta beat Houston.

Rookie left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes (2-2) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings one night after the Braves were eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to Philadelphia.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 1

At Pittsburgh, Jim Edmonds broke open a tight game with a three-run single in the eighth inning, helping St. Louis win its third straight.

So Taguchi drove in two runs and David Eckstein scored three times for the defending World Series champions, who have already been eliminated from the playoffs.

Dodgers 8, Giants 3

At Los Angeles, David Wells (9-9) capped off his season with a victory and singled home a run, James Loney continued his torrid month with another homer for Los Angeles.

Kevin Correia (4-7) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings.