"Down to the last four outs of Sunday's game, and perhaps not just the career of manager Bobby Cox but retiring closer Billy Wagner, nobody wanted the ball more.

For the first time all season, Wagner came in with more than three outs to get. He made it interesting - giving up three runs on back-to-back RBI hits in the eighth -- but he made it last.

Wagner struck out the last four hitters he faced, including the side in order in the ninth, looking for his 37th save of the season in the 8-7 win. Afterward, he handed the ball to Cox. They both could have another day.

"Don't think that didn't run through my head out there," Wagner said when asked about the possibility of throwing the last pitches of his career. "You screw this up and go home and always be a goat. I was happy to go out there and compete and make some pitches and have another day to go out there and sweat."

He struggled to command his fastball at first. "The ball wanted to cut and run," he said. But by the ninth, he figured out how to use the late afternoon shadows to his advantage. Wagner got ahead of each of the three hitters and struck them all out looking at his slider.

"They could see the fastball but they couldn't see spin of the breaking ball," Wagner said. "The only thing I had to do was execute throwing it for a strike."

Wagner threw 21 pitches in the eighth. That was only 11 shy of his season-high. But there was no doubt he was going back out for the ninth, especially considering he'd had three days' rest."