The Reds, who won in their last at-bat for the 22nd time this season, won the NL Central title.
Aroldis Chapman (2-2) pitched a perfect ninth.
Bruce’s line-drive homer off Tim Byrdak (2-2) sent his teammates sprinting to home plate to pummel him while fireworks went off overhead.
Dusty Baker joined Bill McKechnie as the only managers to lead three different NL teams to the playoffs. Baker has made it with the Giants and Cubs.
Cincinnati finished fourth last season, its second under Baker, but the franchise thought it had the makings of something and kept the roster intact.
The Reds have struggled against other top teams. They have gone 58-28 against losing teams, only 30-41 against those with .500 or better records.
Giants 4  Diamondbacks 2: In San Francisco, Juan Uribe matched a career best with his 23rd home run and first-place San Francisco increased its NL West lead over San Diego to two games.
The Padres lost 5-2 at home to Chicago, leaving San Diego 1 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the wild card race. San Francisco’s win eliminated Colorado from playoff contention and gave the Giants a magic number of four to clinch their first playoff berth since 2003.
Uribe hit a tying solo drive leading off the fourth. He also had 23 homers in 2004 with the White Sox.
Jonathan Sanchez (12-9) struck out six in six innings to reach 200 Ks in a season for the first time in his career.
Pinch-hitter Nate Schierholtz hit a go-ahead single in the sixth inning for the Giants.
 Cubs 5  Padres 2: In San Diego, Alfonso Soriano homered twice, including a two-run shot off struggling San Diego ace Mat Latos , and Chicago dropped the Padres 1 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL wild-card race.
The 22-year-old Latos (14-9), who fumed after the Cubs scored two unearned runs in the fifth, lost his fourth straight start, his worst stretch this season.
The Padres have lost 21 of 32 games since Aug. 25, when they were 76-49 and had a 6 1/2 -game lead over the Giants in the NL West. The Padres dropped two games behind the Giants, who beat Arizona 4-2.
Chicago’s Ryan Dempster and two relievers combined on a four-hitter. Dempster (15-11) struck out nine in seven innings. Carlos Marmol pitched the ninth for his 36th save.
With the score tied at 2 and Xavier Nady aboard on a leadoff single in the sixth, Soriano hit his 23rd homer. Soriano homered off Mike Adams leading off the eighth.
 Braves 3 Marlins 2: In Atlanta, Eric Hinske hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning and Atlanta improved its wild card chances.
The Braves moved 1 1/2 games in front of San Diego, which lost 5-2 to Chicago.
Trailing 1-0, the Braves rallied for three runs in the seventh off Anibal Sanchez (12-12), who had held Atlanta to three hits in six innings.
Brooks Conrad knocked in the first run with a triple. Hinske hit his 11th home run to give Atlanta a 3-1 lead.
 Nationals 2  Phillies 1: In Washington, Adam Dunn led off the bottom of the ninth with his 38th homer, this one off Jose Contreras (6-4), to give Washington the win.
Jimmy Rollins went 1 for 3 in his first start in nearly three weeks, Roy Oswalt didn’t allow an earned run in five innings, and NL East champion Philadelphia began preparing for the playoffs.
The Phillies clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason a night earlier.
Oswalt allowed two hits and two walks and left after only 66 pitches.
Nationals starter Jason Marquis left with the scored tied 1-1, having allowed Raul Ibanez’s 16th homer leading off the fourth. 
Mets 4  Brewers 3: In New York, light-hitting New York rookie Ruben Tejada laced a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth off Milwaukee closer John Axford .
David Wright had a two-run homer and the Mets opened their final homestand of the season with their third consecutive win.
Corey Hart homered for Milwaukee and Randy Wolf pitched seven strong innings. Lorenzo Cain hit an RBI double.
Axford (8-2) struck out Wright to escape an eighth-inning jam, but Ike Davis opened the ninth with a double. Josh Thole blooped a one-out single that put runners at the corners and Tejada drove the next pitch up the left-center alley for his third hit, and second double, of the game.
Pirates 7  Cardinals 2: In St. Louis, Garrett Jones homered on a three-hit night and drove in three runs and Brian Burres pitched effectively into the sixth inning for Pittsburgh.
There was no reaction when the official knockout punch came for the defending NL Central champions — Cincinnati’s 3-2 win over Houston — with one out in the sixth and Pittsburgh leading 4-2.
Albert Pujols became the first Cardinal to walk 100 times in three consecutive seasons. Rookie Matt Pagnozzi homered in the second for the Cardinals, who clinched at least a .500 record on Monday following a second-half swoon.
St. Louis was 12-6 against the Reds, but is 26-33 against the rest of the division and 46-50 against teams with a losing record.
Dodgers 9  Rockies 7: In Denver, Casey Blake homered twice, Rafael Furcal had two triples and Los Angeles helped eliminate Colorado from the playoffs.
The Rockies were eliminated from the NL wild card with their loss and Atlanta’s 3-2 win over Florida earlier Tuesday. Colorado’s fate in the NL West ended when first-place San Francisco beat Arizona 4-2 on Tuesday night.
James Loney and Matt Kemp homered for Los Angeles.
Todd Helton and Dexter Fowler went deep for the Rockies, who have lost eight of nine.