APPLYING THE CLINCHER DODGERS BEAT GIANTS, GAIN PLAYOFF BERTH; NL WEST TITLE STILL IN SIGHT DODGERS 4, SAN FRANCISCO 2.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO -- For all the ups and downs, all the peaks and valleys, all the euphoric highs and depressing lows of a six-month season when the Dodgers never achieved anything close to an even keel, the end brought an unlikely calm and a sense of inevitability.

The club came to AT&T Park on Saturday with an obvious refusal to be denied, scoring one run when Kenny Lofton daringly tagged up on an infield popup and another when Jeff Kent cavalierly ran through a stop sign at third base.

Ultimately, those two runs proved the difference in a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants that finally officially earned these Dodgers a playoff berth.

The rival Giants, long since eliminated from the postseason hunt, seemed to roll over all too easily after blowing Friday night's game in the ninth inning. And after a typically workman-like seven innings by Greg Maddux and a perfect inning apiece by Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito, a sellout crowd of 42,769 got to watch the hated Dodgers celebrate.

The question now is, will the Dodgers celebrate again today? And how hard will they try to make it happen? While they have at least clinched the National League wild card, the Dodgers still have an outside shot at winning the NL West in today's regular-season finale.

Statistically, it's a one-in-four shot that would come only if the Dodgers can complete a three-game sweep of the Giants, and San Diego, with which the Dodgers presently are tied for the division lead, lose at Arizona. If the clubs remain tied, the Padres hold the tiebreaker by virtue of winning 13 of 18 from the Dodgers this season.

Winning the division would mean the Dodgers would begin the playoffs at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, almost certainly against St. Louis, be off Wednesday, play Game 2 on Thursday and be off again on Friday after traveling the previous night. Settling for the wild card would mean they will travel to New York on Monday, be off except for a workout on Tuesday, then play the Mets on Wednesday and Thursday at Shea Stadium before returning home.

While the first scenario would seem preferable, few in the champagne- soaked visiting clubhouse wanted to address the topic.

But in the quiet of the manager's office, where the champagne was being swallowed instead of sprayed, the magnitude of this afternoon wasn't lost.

``It will be the biggest game of the year for us,'' Grady Little said. ``We have to approach it just like we do every day.''

With a few notable exceptions, of course.

Derek Lowe, the unquestioned staff ace, won't be needed on three days' rest, so Little can save him for the playoff opener. Nomar Garciaparra, who at times carried this club offensively, will miss a second consecutive game to rest his painful oblique strain. And Kent, the prickly veteran and centerpiece of the Dodgers' lineup, might be given the day off, too.

``When we all get cleaned up, we'll sit down and talk about it,'' Kent said. ``If I don't play, that would be (two or) three days off, so I don't know.''

Either way, the Dodgers are playoff bound for the second time in the past three seasons, and there is reason this time to hope they might get beyond the fourth game of the first round.

A team that once lost 13 of 14 and immediately won 17 of 18 thereafter, is hitting its stride once more, having won its past six games and eight of its past nine.

Moreover, when the Dodgers (87-74) get to the playoffs, they will encounter either a struggling Mets club that has lost Pedro Martinez for the year and hasn't played well since clinching early, or a gasping Cardinals team that looks like it will hold onto its once-formidable lead in the Central just long enough to squeak in.

While others squeaked, the Dodgers bulldozed.

``We have been streaky, but we're peaking at the right time,'' Little said. ``I don't think we have been this good all season long. There was a point where we won 17 of 18, but I don't think we were as good a club then. We're at our very best now.''

Maddux (15-14), who reached the 15-win mark for the 18th time in the past 19 seasons, held the Giants to three hits without a walk over seven innings. The Dodgers battered rookie sensation Matt Cain (13-12) for four runs on nine hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Saito got his 24th save.

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Dodgers celebrate on the field at AT&T Park on Saturday after beating San Francisco and qualifying for the National League playoffs.

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

(2) Kenny Lofton singles in the fourth inning. He would later come around to score on a sacrifice fly by J.D. Drew to put the Dodgers ahead 3-1.

(3) Jeff Kent scores the Dodgers' fourth run on a double by J.D. Drew in the fifth inning after running through the stop sign at third base.

Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer