Miami ? A visitor to the office of Florida Marlins manager Jack McKeon offered congratulations late Thursday night.

“We didn’t do anything yet,” McKeon responded.

That’s not quite right. With an 8-4 victory, the surprising Marlins completed a sweep of their crucial three-game series against Philadelphia to clinch a tie for the NL wild card and eliminate the Phillies.

If the Marlins beat the New York Mets tonight, they’ll earn their first playoff berth since winning the 1997 World Series.

“We’re not ready to celebrate,” said McKeon, 72, who has never managed in the postseason. “We haven’t completed our job.”

But the unaccustomed pressure of a playoff race has failed to faze the young Marlins (89-70). They’ve won four games in a row to climb a season-high 19 above .500.

“It’s no time to get scared,” said Juan Pierre, who went 2-for-2 to reach 200 hits. “I think our team is nervous but not scared. That’s why we’re playing as well as we are.”

Juan Encarnacion sparked the latest victory with a homer and four RBIs. Brad Penny (14-10) pitched eight innings for the Marlins, who won for the 14th time in their past 16 home games.

Astros 6, Brewers 1

Houston — Morgan Ensberg hit two home runs and Houston moved into a tie for the NL Central lead, beating Milwaukee. The Astros pulled even with the Chicago Cubs, who lost at Cincinnati.

Some of the 27,934 fans at Minute Maid Park crowded around TV monitors in the concession area or watched the left-field scoreboard to get updates from Cincinnati. They cheered loudly when the Reds closed out their victory.

The Astros end the regular season with a three-game series at home against last-place Milwaukee. The Cubs finish with a three-game series at home against Pittsburgh.

Reds 9, Cubs 7

Cincinnati — Sammy Sosa climbed the career charts with two more homers, only to watch Chicago let a big one slip away. Sean Casey’s homer capped a six-run sixth inning that silenced thousands of Chicago fans.

After two days of being shut out and having their fans drowned out by thousands of Cubs supporters, the Reds put a big kink in Chicago’s quest for the NL Central title.

Sosa’s two-run homer put Chicago ahead 3-0 in the third and moved him ahead of Mickey Mantle into 10th place on the career list with 537. It also gave him 100 RBIs for the ninth straight season.

Padres 6, Dodgers 1

San Diego — Brian Lawrence pitched seven shutout innings and San Diego eliminated Los Angeles from the NL wild-card race. The Dodgers have not reached the playoffs since 1996. Lawrence (10-15) allowed seven hits, struck out three and walked one. San Diego broke open the game with five runs in the eighth after Lawrence and Hideo Nomo had engaged in a pitcher’s duel through seven innings.

Pirates 3, Mets 1

New York — In their last scheduled home game of the season, the Mets lost to the Pirates as pinch-hitter Abraham Nunez hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the go-ahead run for Pittsburgh and Salomon Torres pitched into the seventh inning. Mike Piazza played first base for the first time as a Met when he moved from behind the plate in the ninth inning.

D’backs 8, Rockies 7

Denver — Quinton McCracken hit a run-scoring single in the ninth inning to lead Arizona past Colorado. Robby Hammock led off the ninth with a walk off Brian Fuentes (3-3), advanced to second on a groundout and scored on McCracken’s two-out single.