By ALAN ROBINSON
AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH(AP) -- The celebration was a couple of bottles of
champagne and a few hugs, nothing more. Maybe it's because the
Los Angeles Dodgers expect to have bigger bashes before the
season is over.

The Dodgers locked up their fourth NL playoff appearance in six
years, getting a two-run single from pinch-hitter Jim Thome
during a four-run eighth inning in which Pirates relievers
walked four before going on to beat Pittsburgh 8-4 on Saturday
night.

Manager Joe Torre is headed to the postseason for a record-tying
14th straight time - only the Braves' Bobby Cox also has
accomplished the feat - after the Dodgers assured themselves of
at least a wild-card spot.

"I don't know who I caught, but it's satisfying ... to be able
to go to the postseason the first two years here," said Torre,
the former Yankees manager. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world
because I don't know if anybody could dream of doing stuff like
this, much less doing it."

The Dodgers also cut their magic number to two for winning the
NL West for the second consecutive season when the Cardinals
beat the Rockies 6-3. Any combination of Dodgers victories and
Rockies losses totaling two will give Los Angeles its first
back-to-back division titles since 1977-78.

The Dodgers didn't celebrate on the field, routinely shaking
hands as they always do after a victory but otherwise showing no
sign this victory was any different from their previous 91. They
drank a few toasts in their clubhouse, but there were no
champagne showers or spraying bottles.

"It's going to be a lot more if we can clinch this division and
secure home-field advantage," Andre Either said.

Torre discussed with general manager Ned Colletti how to
celebrate without actually doing so.

"To me a celebration is saying we reached what we want to reach,
but we knew we had to recognize getting to the postseason,"
Torre said. "We didn't want to let it go by without
acknowledging it, celebrating so speak, but a lot more work to
do."

The Pirates, losers of 23 of 26 before beating the Dodgers on
Friday night, trailed 3-0 before Andy LaRoche homered in the
fourth against Randy Wolf. Pittsburgh took a 4-3 lead in the
seventh, when Wolf and relievers Hong-Chih Kuo and George
Sherrill walked three around Luis Cruz's RBI single and Andrew
McCutchen's two-run single.

The Pirates' bullpen, which pitched six shutout innings on
Friday, couldn't hold the lead. Manny Ramirez, who went 2 for 2
and scored twice, walked ahead of Ronnie Belliard's single off
Denny Bautista (1-1). Phil Dumatrait walked pinch-hitter James
Loney to load the bases, and Steven Jackson walked pinch-hitter
Ethier and Orlando Hudson in succession to force in two runs.

Thome followed with a line-drive single to right for his first
two RBIs since being dealt by the White Sox to the Dodgers on
Aug. 31. He had been 2 for 11, all as a pinch-hitter.

Jackson might have gotten out of the inning with less damage,
but Ethier's foul popup fell out of LaRoche's glove as he struck
the railing that guards the Pirates' dugout while the third
baseman was trying to make a backhanded catch.

"I feel like I made some great pitches but they laid off them,"
Jackson said. "It was just a tough night."

Ethier said, "I had a little luck on my side."

Belliard hit his 10th homer, a solo drive in the ninth off
Virgil Vasquez. Jonathan Broxton closed it out.

Pittsburgh is four losses from its third 100-loss season in 55
years.

Sherrill (1-0) got the victory despite giving up a hit and
walking one of the three batters he faced.

Wolf strengthened his case to be the Dodgers' No. 1 starter in
the playoffs, limiting the Pirates to two runs and four hits in
6 1-3 innings although he didn't get the decision.

"To me, it's nice to know we're going to be in the postseason
because the last 10 or 11 years, I've been watching at home,"
Wolf said. "It's definitely special to me and I'll appreciate it
every second of it. Today, we had a toast - you can't let it go
by and not recognize it - because it's a big accomplishment, but
we didn't want to overdo it."

The Dodgers, lethargic offensively and defensively during a 3-1
loss on Friday that ended Pittsburgh's six-game losing streak,
began the game with three consecutive hits, taking a 1-0 lead on
Ramirez's double off Paul Maholm, who gave up three runs and
seven hits in seven innings.

Ramirez, previously 2 for 14 on a road trip against last-place
clubs Washington and Pittsburgh, also walked and scored on Mark
Loretta's double in the fourth and singled in the fifth.

"They came out aggressive and swinging and I missed with a few
pitches," Maholm said.

NOTES: There were no delays despite nearly daylong rain in
Pittsburgh. A light mist fell at times during the game. ... The
Pirates also had a stretch of 24 losses in 28 games during their
104-loss season in 1985. ... The Dodgers are 24-8 in Pittsburgh
since 2001. ... Saturday was the 167th day the Dodgers have been
in first place, the most in any season since 1977 (175 days).
... The Pirates haven't won successive games since Aug. 21-22.