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Monday NFL — 5:30 p.m. Patriots at Dolphins, ESPN GOLF — 1 a.m. Ryder Cup, USA Network Sports 1B Monday October 4, 2010 Torture ends with win SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jonathan Sanchez pulled on a pair of ski gog- gles to assure himself a clear view of the celebra- tion. No champagne eyes. The San Francisco Giants held their celebra- tory clubhouse party, at last, following a tough two-day wait. Sanchez pitched the Giants back into the play- offs after a six-year absence and also provided a clutch hit, beating the San Diego Padres 3-0 Sun- day to wrap up the NL West title. ‘‘I told myself, ’This is my last start and I’m going to win this game,’’’ Sanchez said. Buster Posey homered and the Giants got it done — on their third try against the Padres this weekend — to capture their first division crown and playoff berth since 2003. ‘‘It’s been seven years since we’ve seen some- thing like this,’’ closer Brian Wilson said. ‘‘It’s been a rollercoaster the entire season.’’ San Francisco will host the wild-card Atlanta Braves starting Thursday at AT&T Park, with ace Tim Lincecum well rested to go in Game 1. The son and they jumped together at the mound. The rest of the Giants joined them and gray NL West champion shirts were quickly handed out. The Giants then took a victory lap along the out- field warning track, slap- ping hands with fans lean- ing over the fence. Bochy brought up the rear of the lap, tipping his cap and waving it over and over again. ‘‘It’s a group that coa- lesced into a team that wants to get there,’’ said Bochy, who eliminated his former team. Padres players stayed put at the railing of their dugout watching the cele- bration in disappointment. The Giants were in fourth place and 7 1/2 games out of the lead on July 4. ‘‘We were in fourth MCT photo The Giants mob closer Brian Wilson after he strikes out the final batter in Sunday’s win over the Padres. The victory gave San Francisco the Division Title. Braves beat the Phillies 8- 7 earlier in the day, extending manager Bobby Cox’s farewell season. Two NL playoff races came down to Game 162. San Diego missed a chance to force a Monday playoff with the Giants at Petco Park to decide the NL West winner. The loser of that would have flown to Atlanta to determine the wild card had there been a three-way tie. Manager Bruce Bochy instructed his players not to pack any bags. He told them the regular season would end Sunday. When it did, the Giants let loose. Pablo Sandoval and other Giants waved orange 49ers lose on last second FG ATLANTA (AP) — Roddy White’s best play came on defense, and it allowed the Atlanta Fal- cons to come up with another close-call victory. When 49ers cornerback Nate Clements intercepted Matt Ryan late in the fourth quarter and ran 39 yards down the left sideline, White had one goal in mind: Knock the ball out. ‘‘Any time that you see defensive players carrying the ball,’’ Atlanta’s star receiver said, ‘‘they aren’t used to it, so you’ve got a chance.’’ White’s forced fumble kept the winning drive alive, and Matt Bryant kicked a 43-yarder with 2 seconds remaining to lift the fortunate Falcons to a 16-14 victory over the win- less 49ers on Sunday. ‘‘It wasn’t the prettiest kick,’’ said Bryant, who won last week’s overtime game at New Orleans with a 46-yard field goal. ‘‘But the only thing that matters is we get that ’W’ when the ball went through the uprights.’’ The Falcons (3-1) have won three straight. San Francisco (0-4) blew a 14-0 first-quarter lead due in part to a pair of interceptions by Alex Smith. ‘‘Those were critical he tackled him from behind at the Atlanta 7. Falcons guard Harvey Dahl recovered the ball to preserve the 12-play win- ning drive. Clements picked off a pass over the middle that was intended for tight end Tony Gonza- lez. MCT photo Falcons Tony Gonzalez hangs on to the ball after taking a hit from 49ers Nate Clements in the final two minutes of the game on Sunday. errors,’’ Smith said. White caught seven passes for 104 yards — including four for 60 yards on the winning drive — but his biggest play was chas- ing Clements down and knocking the ball loose as San Francisco went up 7-0 in the first quarter on Vernon Davis’ 11-yard touchdown catch. The 10- play drive was aided by cornerback Dunta Robin- son’s 34-yard pass interfer- ence penalty against tight end Delanie Walker. Four plays later, Falcons punter Michael Koenen was lined up to receive a snap in the end zone. A blown blocking assignment allowed Dominique Zei- gler to run past long snap- per Joe Zelenka and dive forward for the blocked punt. Taylor Mays, seeing the ball arching down in his direction, turned toward the back of the end zone and kept both feet inbounds as he caught the loose ball for an unconventional touch- down and a 14-0 lead. ‘‘I saw him block it, picked it up and tried to keep my feet in bounds,’’ Mays said. ‘‘It was a trip, but I would have given it all up for a win.’’ Biffle wins to keep title hopes alive KANSAS CITY (AP) — Greg Biffle is back in the title hunt, and Jimmie Johnson has resumed his normal spot atop the NASCAR leaderboard. Kansas Speedway once again played a major role in the Chase for the Sprint Cup champi- onship, which got a whole lot tighter after a fast- paced Sunday race dominated by the title con- tenders. Biffle was the first of seven in the Chase to cross the finish line, pulling himself out of a deep hole with seven races remaining to determine the championship. ‘‘Everybody asked us if we’re out of the Chase, have we given up?’’ the Roush-Fenway Racing driver said. ‘‘The 16 team will never give up. A win here propelled us up there. Maybe we’ll go do the same next week.’’ That had to be the widespread thinking as nine drivers left Kansas separated by 101 points. It’s the closest the Chase field has been after three races since NASCAR switched to the format in 2004. But there’s another telling stat that could mean trouble for everyone besides Johnson and Denny Hamlin: Only once in Chase history has the even- tual champion been ranked lower than second after Kansas. Who was that? Johnson, who ral- lied from eighth in points after Kansas in 2006 to win the first of his four consecutive titles. And here is again, rallying from as low as 21st midway through the race Sunday to finish second behind Biffle. He now has an eight-point lead over Hamlin headed into next weekend’s race at California, where four of his five career victories have come in the last six visits there. Still, Johnson said winning a fifth consecutive championship isn’t in the bag. ‘‘It’s early. I’m not worried about who is lead- ing the championship right now,’’ he said. ‘‘We have to get deeper into the Chase to be concerned about who the points leader is.’’ It’s not Hamlin, who had his first off race of the Chase. towels atop the dugout steps after Wilson’s first two pitches were strikes to Will Venable with two outs in the ninth. When Venable struck out swinging one pitch later, Posey ran out to Wil- place but we said, ’We’re a team that can win it,’’’ Sandoval said. ‘‘We can get to the World Series.’’ The pitching-rich Padres head home for a longer winter than they wanted knowing they blew quite an opportuni- ty. San Diego led the divi- sion by 6 1/2 games before a 10-game losing streak from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5. Foster’s 2 TDs lead Texans past Raiders 31-24 OAKLAND (AP) — Arian Foster got benched at the start of the game for his behavior off the field. There once again were no problems once he stepped between the lines. Foster returned from his punishment to score on a 74- yard run and a 10-yard catch in the second half before Troy Nolan’s second interception sealed the Houston Texans’ 31-24 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. ‘‘I didn’t handle my business off the field, I got disci- plined for it, and rightfully so,’’ Foster said. ‘‘I take full responsibility and I apologized to my teammates for it, and it won’t happen again. And we’re all about moving on here. I slipped up, and I’m assuring it won’t happen again.’’ Neither Foster nor coach Gary Kubiak would say what went into the decision to bench the NFL’s leading rusher for the first 23 minutes against the Raiders (1-3). But the Texans (3-1) were happy to have the NFL’s leading rusher back in time to spark them to another victo- ry. ‘‘Bottom line, we all have responsibilities and over the course of the past few weeks he’s neglected responsibili- ties, he’s been unaccountable in a couple of situations,’’ Kubiak said. ‘‘When that happens you’ve got to learn a les- son, pay a price. I’m disappointed in him, but proud of him coming back and playing well today.’’ Foster took the game over in the second half. On the second play from scrimmage, he burst through a big hole and raced to the 74-yard score, breaking a tackle by Michael Huff on the way to the end zone. Then on the first play of the fourth quarter, Foster caught a short pass from Matt Schaub for the score that gave Houston a 31-14 lead. NOTES: Oakland RB Darren McFadden did not return after injuring his right hamstring early in the fourth quarter. ... This is the fifth straight year these teams have played despite being in different divisions, with Houston winning for the fourth time. ... The attendance was the smallest in Oakland since a crowd of 30,738 for the season finale against Buffalo in 1967. MCT photo Drivers crossed the start/finish line to being the first lap of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Price Chopper 400 at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday in Kansas City, Kansas.