Bryan LaHair homered and hit a game-winning single in the ninth inning, and the Cubs beat Houston 5-4 Wednesday in the Astros’ National League finale.In the first series between 100-game losers in the major leagues since 1962, LaHair homered in the second and broke a 4-all tie in the ninth against Hector Ambriz (1-0).Houston went 55-107 and set a club record for losses with one more than last year. The Astros became the first team with 106 or more losses in consecutive seasons since the 1964-65 New York Mets.Houston finished its NL tenure with 3,999 regular-season wins and 4,134 losses with five ties. The Astros are moving to the AL West next season, creating three divisions of five teams in each league.The Astros was 16-25 under interim manager Tony DeFrancesco, who took over after Brad Mills was fired on Aug. 18. Washington third base coach Bo Porter already has been hired as Houston’s manager for next season.The Cubs, who haven’t won the World Series since 1908, went 61-101 for their most losses since dropping 103 games in 1966.Carlos Marmol (3-3) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win.Justin Maxwell hit a tying, three-run homer for Houston in the eighth off Shawn Camp.Cubs starter Travis Wood allowed one run, three hits and five walks in 6 1/3 innings, giving up Carlos Corporan’s RBI single in the first. Wood also chased Astros starter Edgar Gonzalez with a two-run single.Gonzalez gave up four runs, five hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings. Houston pitched 28 consecutive scoreless innings before LaHair’s homer in the second.Most Cubs’ regulars were given the day off. The exception, Starlin Castro became the first player in franchise history to play shortstop in all 162 games, and the first major leaguer to do it since Jimmy Rollins in 2007. Castro’s 195 consecutive games played is the longest active streak in the NL.

NOTES—The Cubs drew 2,882,756 to Wrigley Field, the first time under 3 million at home since 2003. …Alfonso Soriano said he is open to being traded in the offseason if the Cubs don’t plan on contending the next two years. “I just want to have one more shot to go to the World Series before I [retire],” Soriano said. The 36-year-old said he will seriously consider retiring when his contract expires after the 2014 season. He is slated to make $18 million each of the next two seasons.

As the losses continue to pile up, they start to look the same to Cubs manager Dale Sveum.

“Deja vu,” Sveum said after the Cubs were blanked for a second straight game. “It’s kind of typifying the whole season, these last two nights swinging the bats.”

Bud Norris pitched six shutout innings, Jason Castro homered and the Houston Astros beat the Cubs 3-0 Tuesday night in a matchup of 100-loss teams.

“Not a lot of quality at-bats again,” Sveum said. “Left some guys on, striking out with guys in scoring position again.”

The season-ending series between NL Central clubs marks the first meeting of 100-loss teams in the majors since 1962, when the Cubs played the New York Mets. The Cubs were blanked for the 16th time this season. It’s the second time they have been shutout in back-to-back games, the other instance coming July 21-22 at St. Louis. Chris Volstad (3-12) took the loss for the Cubs, who fell to 60-101.Castro hit his sixth homer of the year, sending a solo shot into the right-field bleachers with two outs in the second inning. Justin Maxwell reached on shortstop Starlin Castro’s 27th blunder of the year following the home run, and scored on Tyler Greene’s single. Volstad was otherwise effective, striking out six and walking none in seven innings. He had gone eight innings over his previous two starts without striking out a batter.

“I could have used a few more of those (starts),” Volstad said. “But it felt good to end it that way and go into the offseason with a positive.”

Volstad carried a winless streak with him for much of the season, unable to snap the 24-start skid until late August.

“This season I learned more than I have any other year about myself and about baseball,” Volstad said. “I’m going to take away the positives and work on that in the offseason.”

Astros pinch-hitter Brian Bogusevic walked and scored on Alberto Cabrera’s wild pitch to add an insurance run in the eighth. Houston (55-106) threw its third straight shutout and won for the fifth time in six games. The Astros have already matched last year’s franchise-worst loss total with one game left.

“The team won three in a row, that’s the way we’re looking at it,” Norris said. “We’re trying to end this thing strong and play it all the way through.”

Norris (7-13) scattered four hits and won back-to-back starts for the first time since May.Norris pitched out of several sticky situations. He put runners in scoring position with less than two out in four consecutive innings but didn’t allow any runs to cross home. Norris struck out Luis Valbuena and Welington Castillo with runners on second and third to end a fourth-inning threat.The 27-year-old endured a 19-start winless stretch before winning his last two. Four Astros relievers held the Cubs hitless over the final three innings. Wilton Lopez worked the ninth for his 10th save in 13 chances.Jordan Lyles tossed a complete game at Milwaukee on Sunday and Lucas Harrell and three relievers combined to blank the Cubs on Monday. Sveum said he plans on resting most of his regular starters in the season finale on Wednesday. Castro is likely to play – he can become the first Cubs infielder to appear in all 162 games since Hall of Famer Ron Santo in 1968. No Cubs shortstop has ever played in all 162 games.

“The season didn’t go well, obviously, but these guys deserve to kick back,” Sveum said. “Let them sit back and watch a game for once.”

NOTES—Houston had had a miserable season, they have now won a series in both Chicago Parks, having taken two of three in June from the White Sox at US Cellular Field….The Astros start Edgar Gonzalez (3-1, 4.15 ERA) on Wednesday in their final game as a National League team. They’ll move to the AL next year. Travis Wood (6-13, 4.39) goes for the Cubs.

CLEVELAND—Jason Donald got the game-winning hit. He was more excited about Travis Hafner’s home run that sent Cleveland into extra innings. Donald singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the Indians over the White Sox 4-3 on Tuesday night. Hafner tied it with a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the ninth.

“I’m happy to win it, but how about Hafner?,” Donald said after Cleveland’s sixth walkoff win. “You almost wouldn’t expect anything else. Whether it was his last homer here or not, it was so cool.”

Hafner is scheduled to play in Wednesday’s season finale, which could be his last game for Cleveland. The Indians almost assuredly will not pick up his $13 million option and give him a $2.7 buyout. Before the game, Hafner, 35, who has battled numerous injuries for five years, said, “I want to play next year. I’ll have to see who is interested.”

Jake Peavy took a one-hitter and 3-1 lead into the ninth. Pinch hitter Michael Brantley led off with a single and Hafner followed with a drive off the right-field foul pole.

“That was huge,” interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr. said. “We were waiting for the right opportunity to put Hafner in. Peavy’s pitch count was up and first base wasn’t open.”

Lonnie Chisenhall doubled with one out in the Cleveland 12th against Matt Thornton (4-10), who then intentionally walked Russ Canzler. Right-hander Nate Jones came on to face announced pinch hitter Matt LaPorta, who was replaced by lefty swinging Jack Hannahan. Jones struck him out before Donald hit a liner into the left-field corner.

“The guys are battling and I’m proud of them,” Alomar said. “Jason can play everywhere, so he’s getting some at-bats. He came through.”

Chris Seddon (1-1) pitched a scoreless 12th for Cleveland’s seventh win in 17 meetings with yje Southsiders. It was the left-hander’s first victory since July 24, 2010, with Seattle. Dayan Viciedo hit a two-run homer off Cleveland closer Chris Perez in the ninth for a 3-1 lead. Until Hafner delivered, Peavy had allowed only Shin-Soo Choo’s 16th homer leading off the fourth. Peavy walked one and struck out eight in what could be his final game for the White Sox.

“He was pitching great,” Robin Ventura said.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” said Peavy, who finished 11-12 with a 3.27 ERA. “It’s fitting, the way my year seems to have gone. When I need to catch a break, I can’t catch one. A cue ball off the end [of the bat] and the ball hits the foul pole.”

Peavy’s $22 million option for 2013 almost certainly won’t be picked up, but he’s hopeful of being in Chicago.

“We’ll see how the next few months play out,” Peavy said. “This has been a rewarding year as much as it can be. We’ve had something special here.”

The Sox claimed the AL Central lead in July, but went 3-11 the final two weeks to finish second. Orlando Hudson singled for his third hit before Viciedo drove a 426-foot shot to center for his 24th homer — and fifth against Cleveland. He is hitting .346 with 18 RBI against the Indians.Perez later allowed a one-out single to Jordan Danks and hit Tyler Flowers in the left hand with a pitch. Flowers glared out at Perez and both benches were warned. After Perez retired the side, he and Flowers had an animated talk at the side of the mound. It ended with the pitcher patting Flowers on the back.

“There was no intent to hit him,” Alomar said. “It may have looked that way after the homer and I can see why they reacted, but I’ve never seen C.P. hit anyone on purpose.”

Dewayne Wise doubled and scored on a single by Hudson in the sixth off Indians starter Justin Masterson.Masterson struck out five over six innings in his final start, failing to break his three-game losing streak. He allowed one run, one walk and four hits and finished with an 11-15 record and career-high 206 1/3 innings pitched.Alomar Jr. said before the game that Masterson has the stuff to be a big winner, but remains too inconsistent. He wants Masterson to get downward sink on his pitches rather than side-to-side movement.

NOTES—Fans chanted “San-dy, San-dy,” when Alomar argued a close call at first base. Before the game, Perez said while he respects Manny Acta, he had a problem with the fired manager not confronting umpires…..Adam Dunn struck out twice and has fanned 222 times, two shy of the major league record set by Mark Reynolds with Arizona in 2009…..Paul Konerko will have surgery on his left wrist Thursday. Manager Robin Ventura said Konerko might play in the season finale on Wednesday….The normally quiet Brantley got quizzical looks from teammates before the game as he jogged around the Indians clubhouse carrying a football and wearing a Browns helmet autographed by WR Josh Cribbs and a signed RB Trent Richardson jersey. Nobody seemed to know why.

ARLINGTON—Those 30-something defenders for the Bears showed Tony Romo how much they can still play.Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman, two of the five defensive starters in their 30s, returned interceptions for touchdowns, and the Bears beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-18 on Monday night.Though Romo was only sacked once, on the Cowboys’ opening series, he was pressured relentlessly and threw five interceptions. That matched his career high, set five years ago in his first full season as a starter.Briggs’ interception came in a wild two-play exchange of turnovers midway through the third quarter.Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was nearly flawless after halftime, when he completed 11 of 12 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. That included a 34-yard score to Devin Hester to start the half and a 31-yarder to Brandon Marshall with 6½ minutes left.Cutler was 18 of 24 overall for 275 yards.Major Wright, who returned an interception for a touchdown in the Bears last game, had two of the five interceptions. D.J. Moore has nine career interceptions, three of them against Romo after getting another one Monday night.The Bears first fumble of the season came when Cutler was sacked by DeMarcus Ware and Victor Butler recovered at the Bears 27.On the very next play, Romo was trying to escape pressure when he was hit from behind by Henry Melton. The ball popped forward into the air and Briggs grabbed it and rumbled for his first interception return for a score since 2005 to put the Bears (3-1) ahead 24-7.Once again, the Cowboys (2-2) are a .500 team. They are also one of the lowest-scoring team in the NFL with only 65 points.Since the start of the 1997 season, Dallas is 122-122 in regular-season games. They have won only one playoff game in that span after three Super Bowl titles in a four-year span in the first half of the 1990s.Romo finished 31 of 43 for 307 yards and a touchdown. When the Cowboys got the ball back in the final 3 minutes, former Bear Kyle Orton got his first action since the veteran quarterback signed a free agent deal during the offseason to be Romo’s backup.Orton threw a 5-yard TD pass to Jason Witten with 34 seconds left, capping a 10-play, 89-yard drive. The Cowboys made a 2-point conversion, then failed to grab the onside kick.The regular referees were back, wrapping up the first weekend of games since returning to work. It was a week after that disputed Monday night ending that gave the Seattle Seahawks a victory over the Green Bay Packers.Referee Walt Anderson had to go under the hood to review three plays in the Bears-Cowboys game, but none that will cause the kind of uproar from a week earlier.The Bears opened the second half with a 73-yard drive capped by Cutler’s 34-yard TD pass to Hester, who raced passed rookie cornerback Morris Claiborne and had to make a lunging catch at the goal line.Despite a screen shot frozen on the huge video board over the field that raised the question of whether the ball might have hit the ground as Hester rolled over, Anderson confirmed the on-field ruling of touchdown after reviewing the play.There was another play involving Claiborne overturned on review later in the third quarter. When Alshon Jeffery was going down after a catch, Claiborne stripped the ball and started running the other way. It was originally ruled a fumble, but the replay showed the receiver still controlled the ball when his elbow hit the ground.In the fourth quarter, Dallas challenged a pass interference call against its defense in the end zone. They contended that the ball had been tipped, which was confirmed by replay.That brought up fourth down, and Robbie Gould kicked his second field goal, a 21-yarder.The interception by Tillman in the second quarter, on a ball thrown right into his hands by Romo when intended receiver Dez Bryant was still running down the field, came on the third play after Gould’s 43-yard field goal.Dallas responded to that quick 10-point surge by going 80 yards on nine plays, capped by Romo’s 10-yard TD pass to Miles Austin with 14 seconds left in the half. Pro Bowl running back Matt Forte returned to the Bears lineup after missing the last game with a sprained right ankle and being limited in practice all week. He had 13 carries for 52 yards.The Bears had an NFL-high 14 sacks through the first three weeks of the season, and upped that total on the first series when Melton sacked Romo on third-and-7 from the Bears 40.Melton is from nearby Grapevine and played running back at the University of Texas.

The Cubs got their 100th loss of the season when Lucas Harrell threw six shutout innings to lead the Houston Astros to a 3-0 win Monday night.Four Houston pitchers combined on a two-hitter and Fernando Martinez homered for the third consecutive game. The Astros avoided their franchise-record 107th loss in the opener of their final series in the National League before they move to the American League next season.The Cubs lost 100 games in a season for the first time since 1966 and were shut out for the 14th time this season. The Cubs have lost more than 99 games twice, setting the franchise record of 103 losses in 1962 and 1966. The Cubs have dropped 12 of their last 14.Houston has matched its franchise record for losses with 106, but the Astros have won four of their last five and are 14-14 since Sept. 1.Harrell (11-11) struck out seven in six scoreless innings for his first victory since Aug. 14, which was also against the Cubs. He walked one and allowed two hits, a single by David DeJesus and a double by Anthony Rizzo. Harrell retired the last nine batters he faced.Jose Valdez, Fernando Rodriguez and Wesley Wright did not allow a hit in the final three innings. Martinez’s sixth home run was a leadoff shot off Jason Berken in the second inning for a 1-0 lead.Matt Dominguez hit an RBI triple to left field in the fourth inning after Martinez singled. Left fielder Alfonso Soriano’s throw home bounced past catcher Welington Castillo as Martinez scored for a 2-0 lead.Scott Moore’s RBI single in the eighth off Shawn Camp put the Astros ahead 3-0. Berken (0-3) allowed two runs in 4 2-3 innings in his final start of the season.

NOTES: The Astros are playing their final series in the NL against the same team they played in the first game in franchise history. The Houston Colt .45s beat the Cubs 11-2 on April 10, 1962. The Astros are 374-328 against the Cubs, their most victories against any opponent. .Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro played in his 160th game and could play in all 162, which would make him the first Cub to play in all 162 games at shortstop. His 159 starts at shortstop surpassed the single-season franchise mark of 158 starts at shortstop set by Ivan DeJesus (1978) and Don Kessinger (1968). . Astros bench coach Joe Pettini left the team for the final series due to a death in his family and will be replaced on the bench by catching and advance scouting coordinator Matt Sinatro. .Cubs right-hander Chris Volstad (3-11, 6.64 ERA) will start Tuesday against Houston right-hander Bud Norris (6-13, 4.82).

CLEVELAND—Rookie Hector Santiago allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings as the White Sox kept their slim playoff hopes alive – for a few moments – with an 11-0 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.Santiago (4-1), who began the season as the closer, struck out a season-high 10.Detroit clinched the AL Central with a 6-3 win at Kansas City. The Indians’ only hit off the left-hander was Shin-Soo Choo’s two-out single in the third.With just their third win in 13 games, the second-place White Sox remained in contention in the AL Central until then Tigers finished their aforementioned win in KC which did eliminate the Sox, who collapsed down the stretch after being in first place in the division for 63 straight days.The White Sox scored four runs in the sixth off Corey Kluber (2-5), and added six in the ninth to end any doubt.Dayan Viciedo hit his first career grand slam in the ninth to make it 11-0.After lining up and slapping high-fives in the infield, the White Sox headed to their clubhouse aware that the Tigers were leading the Royals 6-2 in the seventh.There was nothing more the Sox could do. It was out of their hands.A season of promise under first-year manager Robin Ventura had almost crumbled completely.Santiago and Kluber were locked in a scoreless duel until the sixth, when the White Sox scored four runs on five hits – four coming with two outs.Dewayne Wise bunted safely with one out, and stole second with two outs before Adam Dunn snapped an 0-for-18 slump by lining a base hit to center. Kluber then walked Paul Konerko before Alex Rios ripped an RBI double off the left-field wall, scoring Dunn to make it 2-0 and forcing a pitching change.A.J. Pierzynski followed with a grounder up the middle off reliever Joe Smith that went off diving second baseman Jason Kipnis’ glove and into center field as Konerko scored. Viciedo’s single then scored Rios to give the White Sox a 4-0 lead and chance to breathe a little easier.Santiago was never threatened by the Indians, who managed just three baserunners off the left-hander. Cleveland did not get a runner to second base off Santiago, who won for the first time in five starts.Dunn added an RBI single in the ninth to make it 6-0.The White Sox didn’t seem to be feeling any pressure before the game. Players sat in front of their lockers, tapping away at the screens of their iPads or watching TV as if it was June 1 and not Oct. 1 with their season hanging by a thread.Sox players, who had spent 117 total days in first place, seemed resigned to their fate.

“If it does become official, it’s a huge disappointment,” said starter Jake Peavy, who is scheduled to start Tuesday’s game. “We feel like we let one slip away. It’s extremely frustrating the way things have played out.”

It was a monumental collapse for the White Sox, who led the division by three games on Sept. 17. Since then, they’re 4-10 and now have to hope the Royals can somehow sweep three straight from the Tigers.As for the Indians, they dropped to 2-2 under interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr., who hopes to become Cleveland’s permanent manager.

“It’d be great. It’d be awesome,” Alomar said before the game. “I played here many years. I’m very proud of this organization. They have treated me great. They brought me back. If it’s the time, it’s their choice. If it’s the time, it’s time. if not, there will be some other time.”

Alomar took over last week when the Indians fired Manny Acta with six games left. Alomar, who served Acta’s bench coach this season, will likely interview with the Indians by the end of the week. He and former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona are the only candidates confirmed so far by the club, which has tentatively set up a meeting with Francona on Friday.

NOTES—With his performance, Santiago helped Chicago’s set a club record for strikeouts in a season. The White Sox have fanned 1,225 batters, five more than in 2011. … The roles were reversed in 2005, when the White Sox came in and swept three from the Indians, denying them a chance to win the AL wild card. The series ended with then-manager Ozzie Guillen putting his hands around his throat and giving Cleveland fans the choke sign. Alomar was asked if he would repeat the gesture. “I respect Ozzie,” Alomar said, fighting back a smile. “But I’m not going to do that. It has nothing to do with choking or an organizational rivalry or anything like that. We just play the game, respect the game and go out there and play baseball.” … Dunn has 220 strikeouts, three away from the major league record set by Mark Reynolds with Arizona in 2009.