The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs on Friday night, allowing them to clinch the NL Central title.

The Cardinals have won six of seven and are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the NL. They are assured of home-field advantage when the NL Division Series starts Thursday.

The Cincinnati Reds secured their third playoff berth in four seasons when they defeated the New York Mets on Monday night.

"We're excited, obviously," Zack Cozart said. "That's not our goal. We're in the division hunt. We're not happy with a wild card."

It was a notable win for the Reds -- their 90th of the season, the third time in the last four years that they have reached the mark under Dusty Baker.

The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs on Monday night, clinching their first playoff berth since 1992 in the process.

They are ensured of one of the two National League Wild Card berths.

"Even though I didn't lose for the last 20 years, they make you feel like you are. You feel like you lost those 20 years," Andrew McCutchen said. "That's all you hear. You hear it every single day -- 'When's it going to change? You think this is the year?' You get sick and tired of hearing that. It's awesome that there won't be any questions anymore. The question is, 'Are we going to be able to go farther?'"

Pittsburgh players sang Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," and chanted, "MVP! MVP!" while surrounding McCutchen.

The Oakland Athletics have won the American League West title for the second-straight year.

The Athletics clinched when the Texas Rangers lost to the Kansas City Royals in extra innings on Sunday afternoon.

The St. Louis Cardinals were ensured of a playoff berth when the Washington Nationals lost to the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals have made the playoffs for three straight years.

The Atlanta Braves have clinched the National League East title, their first in eight years.

It's the first division title under Fredi Gonzalez since he took over before the 2011 season. He has led the Braves to at least 89 wins in each of his three years.

The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West title on Thursday night, their first since 2009.

Three months ago, the Dodgers were in last place.

"I want to keep going," Hanley Ramirez said. "I think that we've got a couple of more steps to do. We've got to keep working and stay together all the way through to the end."

Ramirez has played 1,090 regular-season games but will be making his first trip to the postseason. Only three active players have played more games without making the playoffs.

"I'm a guy that doesn't show a lot of emotion," Don Mattingly said. "I really try to keep it kind of even. But this is a great accomplishment for these guys. We put a great team together and a big payroll with huge expectations. A lot of time that falls apart and it had a chance to fall apart during the season, I thought.

"But the coaching staff stuck together. These guys were loyal to me. There was no backbiting or somebody trying to leap over me. They stuck together. ... The players came together, we got healthy, and then we just rolled."