Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday in Milwaukee .

Brewers take final wild-card spot over Mets

CC Sabathia and Ryan Braun helped the Brewers end 26 years of frustration, while Mets fans watched a frustrating finale rerun of their wretched September collapse from a year ago.

With the NL wild-card spot up for grabs, the Mets and Brewers were both involved in tie games in the eighth inning on Sunday. But in a matter of minutes, the Mets bullpen imploded yet again and Braun hit a home run that put Milwaukee in the playoffs and sent Mets fans home from the Shea Stadium finale deeply disappointed. Again.

Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala served up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning to Wes Helms and Dan Uggla, and New York completed their second consecutive September slide with a 4-2 loss to Florida.

"We failed. We failed as a team," David Wright said. "There's no pointing fingers. There's no excuses. We as a unit didn't get the job done."

Minutes later at Milwaukee, Braun put the Brewers ahead with a two-run homer. Sabathia did the rest, helping the Brewers hold on to beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1.

"It's our time," Sabathia said.

Milwaukee will face Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. The NL Central champion Cubs will play the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In other NL games on the final Sunday of the regular season, it was: Philadelphia 8, Washington 3; San Francisco 3, Los Angeles 1; Arizona 2, Colorado 1; St. Louis 11, Cincinnati 4; Houston 3, Atlanta 1; and Pittsburgh 6, San Diego 1.

At New York, Ryan Church flied out to deep center with a runner on for the final out, ending the Mets' season. What followed was an awkward scene at Shea.

The Mets brought in former greats from Tom Seaver and Willie Mays to Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry for closing festivities that felt more like a funeral than a party.

Still, a vast majority of fans stayed in their seats and cheered their old favorites during a ceremony that lasted nearly an hour.

"It would have been better if we would have won today, but I don't think it spoils the celebration," general manager Omar Minaya said. "What's going on out there, it's about the history of this building, the history of the players, the history of this organization."

After filing into the clubhouse, several Mets started cleaning out lockers and saying goodbyes, another bitter winter ahead.

It was an eerily similar scenario to last year, when New York lost at home to Florida on the final day of season, ending its playoff hopes.

That defeat finished one of baseball's biggest meltdowns — the Mets had led the NL East by seven games with 17 to play before they went 5-12 down the stretch. This time, they held first place by a season-high 3½ games with 17 remaining before going 7-10 the rest of the way.

"I have to believe it, because it's happening," Carlos Beltran said. "It's a bad group for you to be there, as a player. I have no more words."

Excluding the 1981 split season, the Mets became the first team in major league history to hold 3½-game division leads in consecutive Septembers and fail to make the postseason both times, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"I'd rather not think about it," Carlos Delgado said.

Sabathia delivered a dominant four-hit complete game in his third straight start on three days' rest.

Sabathia, who came to the Brewers in a trade with Cleveland in July, celebrated by climbing on top of the Brewers' dugout and dousing fans with champagne.

It was a last-minute recovery for the Brewers, who took drastic measures after blowing the 5½-game wild card lead they held going into September: They fired manager Ned Yost with only two weeks left to go.

But the details of the Brewers' wild ride to the playoffs don't matter now.

"As good as we feel right now, everything that's happened this month, everything that's happened this week is in the past now," J.J. Hardy said. "We're in the playoffs, and I don't think we could be happier."

Neither could thousands of their fans, who stayed in Miller Park to watch the Mets' game on the giant video board in center field and cheered wildly as the Marlins recorded the final out.

Streamers and confetti fell from the rafters and fireworks went off in the outfield as interim manager Dale Sveum and the Brewers began showering each other with champagne in the middle of the clubhouse.

Several Cubs, including Carlos Zambrano and Daryle Ward, sat in the Cubs dugout and watched the last few outs in the Mets game and the crowd's reaction. Cubs manager Lou Piniella avoided the on-field mayhem, but called to congratulate Sveum afterward.

"They took a tough loss in Chicago, Cincinnati beat them a couple in a row, but they bounced back," Piniella said.

Thanks in large part to their larger-than-life pitcher.

"Three starts, three days' rest, 115 pitches, he goes right through the top of the Cubs' order," Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said. "That's CC Sabathia."

Phillies 8, Nationals 3

At Philadelphia, Lou Marson and Matt Stairs hit back-to-back homers for the NL East-champion Phillies, who rested their regulars in a win over Washington.

Cole Hamels was scheduled to pitch, but took the day off to rest for his Game 1 start in the division series on Wednesday. Manager Charlie Manuel said he was undecided about his Game 2 starter and might wait until Monday to announce one.

Giants 3, Dodgers 1

At San Francisco, Giants ace Tim Lincecum matched his career high with 13 strikeouts to finish with a majors-best 265 in a win over the NL West champion Dodgers.

Los Angeles concluded its division championship season at 84-78 and will face the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs starting Wednesday at Wrigley Field.

Astros 3, Braves 1

At Houston, Brad Ausmus hit a two-run homer in his final game with the Astros.

Chipper Jones secured his first NL batting title, walking in his only at-bat. Jones hit a career-high .364 to edge Albert Pujols and become the NL's first switch-hitting batting champion since Terry Pendleton won in his 1991 MVP season for Atlanta.

Cardinals 11, Reds 4

At St. Louis, Felipe Lopez drove in three runs and Brad Thompson threw five effective innings, helping the Cardinals end the year on a season-best six game winning streak.

Diamondbacks 2, Rockies 1

At Phoenix, Randy Johnson pitched a two-hitter in what might have been his final appearance with the Diamondbacks. The 45-year-old Johnson, a five-time Cy Young Award winner whose contract expires after this season, earned his 295th career win.

Pirates 6, Padres 1

At San Diego, Adam LaRoche and Steve Pearce hit consecutive homers in the fourth inning and the Pirates won a matchup of last-place clubs.