The Associated Press

ATLANTA — The San Francisco Giants celebrated their first playoff win in eight years, then paused to honor the man whose career they had just ended.

As Bobby Cox came out of the Braves dugout to tip his cap to the chanting crowd one last time Monday night, the Giants stopped what they were doing on the other side of the field.

They began clapping, too, and tipped their caps in Cox’s direction. The Atlanta manager waved back.

Then the Giants headed off to savor a 3-2 victory that sent them to the NL championship series for the first time since 2002. Twenty-one-year-old rookie Madison Bumgarner pitched six strong innings, late-season pickup Cody Ross homered and drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the seventh, and the San Francisco bullpen closed it out.

For Cox, there are no more games, only the reality of what he’s going to do with the rest of his life without a group of ballplayers to manage.

He can put away that familiar No. 6 uniform for good.

“It doesn’t feel like the last time I’m putting it on, but it certainly is,” Cox said, his voice cracking. “I won’t put it on again.”

The series was tight and tense to the very last out. Giants closer Brian Wilson walked two in the ninth, giving the Braves one more shot to extend Cox’s career. But Omar Infante struck out attempting to check his swing on a nasty slider, and Melky Cabrera grounded out to third.

“This series had everything,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Just the intensity and excitement of the series, it had to be thrilling for the fans. There was never an easy moment for Bobby or myself, because these games could have gone either way.”

Indeed, every game was decided by one run, but the Giants won three of them to take the best-of-five series and earn a shot against the two-time defending NL champion Phillies. Game 1 is Saturday at Philadelphia and features a marquee matchup: Tim Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay.