Jim Leyritz hit three homers in the Division Series against the Astros, including this shot in Game 4.

With Jim Leyritz hitting another clutch home run, San Diego ran Randy Johnson and the Houston Astros out of the playoffs, winning 6-1 Sunday night to take the division series three games to one and return to the NL championship for the first time since 1984.

"Coming into this series, a lot of people wrote us off," Gwynn said. "And I'll be honest with you, I think the only people who thought we could win this thing were the players."

Now they're off to face the Atlanta Braves in the best-of-7 NLCS starting Wednesday night at Turner Field.

Leyritz set the tone with a 422-foot drive to left center off Johnson leading off the second as twilight settled over Qualcomm Stadium. Left-hander Sterling Hitchcock, making his first postseason start, used a devastating split-fingered fastball to strike out 11 in six innings.

"I'm numb right now," said Leyritz, who homered in the final three games of the series. "I can't believe all that's gone on. I don't even want to think about it. Let it just keep rolling, man!"

Leyritz was one of the New York Yankees' heroes in 1996, hitting a dramatic three-run, game-tying homer in the eighth inning of Game 4 at Atlanta, which the Yankees went on to win en route to taking the Series.

Leyritz had been just 4-for-37 (.108) with one home run lifetime off Johnson, but his second-inning homer was his sixth in 34 postseason at-bats.

"This time of day, it's hard to see the ball," Leyritz said. "I just swung in the right place and, with his velocity, was able to hit it out."

Facing Johnson, batters usually press because they know how difficult it's going to be to score.

"I think the biggest thing is that guys could relax because we had a lead," Gwynn said.

The Padres won Saturday night's game 2-1 thanks to Leyritz's solo homer to left with one out in the seventh. On Thursday, his pinch-hit, two-run shot with two out in the ninth off Billy Wagner sailed just inside the foul pole in right, tying the game at 4. The Astros came back and won it 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth.

Johnson, the Big Unit, lost his fifth straight decision in the postseason, tying a major league record.

"I didn't have my best stuff, but you give up three earned runs in 14 innings (in two starts), you don't feel like you're going to lose too many ballgames," said Johnson, who left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

"Everybody counted us out," Hitchcock said. "They said we couldn't beat Johnson twice in a five-game series. Well, we beat him twice in a four-game series. These guys never let up."

This series was close and tense, with the first three games being decided by one run. This one was headed that way until reliever Jay Powell gave up pinch-hitter John Vander Wal's two-run triple and Wally Joyner's two-run homer in the eighth.

With the crowd of 64,898 roaring, Trevor Hoffman closed out the ninth for the Padres, who now face a Braves team that beat them five times in nine games this year.

Houston's Ricky Gutierrez kneeled in the on-deck circle for a few minutes after the final out, which sent the Padres bursting out of the dugout and fireworks bursting overhead. Houston's Craig Biggio sat in the dugout, stunned, staring at the scene. Like they did the night they won the NL West, Padres players and their families partied on the field.

This is the first time the Padres have been this far since 1984, when they beat the Chicago Cubs to win the pennant only to lose the World Series 4-1 to Detroit.

Gwynn, 38, is the only player left from that Padres team, although Bruce Bochy is the manager, Tim Flannery the third base coach and Greg Booker the bullpen coach.

Hitchcock and three relievers combined on a three-hitter against the Astros, who led the NL in scoring this season but managed just eight runs in this series. They go home frustrated for a second straight year, having been swept by Atlanta in the first round in 1997.

"It's just kind of hard for me to think about," Houston star Jeff Bagwell said. "It's just too devastating to even think about."

Johnson was brilliant after being traded from Seattle to Houston on July 31, going 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA. But the Padres beat him twice this series.

Trailing 2-1, the Astros loaded the bases without a hit off Joey Hamilton in the seventh. Dan Miceli came on and retired the side on four pitches, striking out Brad Ausmus and getting Carl Everett -- pinch-hitting for Johnson -- to pop up to third.

The Padres scratched out an unearned run in the sixth to go ahead 2-1. Greg Vaughn hit a high fly with two outs and left fielder Moises Alou had to run in.

Alou tried to make a sliding catch and missed, giving Vaughn a double. Ken Caminiti followed with a chopper to third baseman Sean Berry and stumbled coming out of the box, but Berry made a bad throw that bounced past Bagwell at first base, allowing Vaughn to score.

Notes: Doyle Alexander (1973-87) and Joe Bush (1914-23) also lost five straight postseason decisions. ... The Padres scored more than four runs for the first time in 17 games. ... The crowd was second largest in San Diego baseball history only to Saturday night's 65,235. ... Houston has been in five postseason series, and lost all of them.