MLB

Manny Ramirez homered for the fourth time in five games to lead the Dodgers to a 4-1 victory over the Cardinals.

Jeff Kent added three hits and scored two runs for Los Angeles, while Kershaw allowed only one run and three hits as the Dodgers moved to within one and a half games of the Arizona Diamondbacks at the top of the West Division.

At Chase Field, rookie Charlie Morton pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 6-4 victory over the Diamondbacks, who lost a second straight contest.

Mark Kotsay registered his fifth home run, Yunel Escobar had two RBIs and Gregor Blanco added a pair of hits and scored two runs for the Braves, who won for just the fourth time in their last 12 games.

In Philadelphia, rookie Chris Volstad out-duelled Cole Hamels to lead the Florida Marlins to a 3-0 victory over the East leading Phillies.

The Marlins (61-54) won two of three contests in this series and moved within one and a half games of the Phillies (62-52).

At Shea Stadium, David Wright drilled a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the New York Mets overcame another bullpen meltdown to post a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Wright saved the Mets from what could have been a disastrous loss in which the bullpen squandered a lead for the sixth time in 23 starts this season after New York had built a 3-1 advantage heading into the eighth.

In Denver, Lastings Milledge had three hits and a career-high four RBIs - including home runs in consecutive at-bats - as the Washington Nationals recorded a 6-3 triumph over the Colorado Rockies.

Emilio Bonifacio added an RBI triple and Willie Harris contributed a run-scoring double to back Jason Bergmann (2-8), who allowed one run and seven hits in seven-plus innings to pick up his first win since mid-May.

At the Great American Ball Park, Roy Oswalt continued his dominance of the Cincinnati Reds with seven strong innings and Hunter Pence belted a three-run homer as the Houston Astros posted a 7-4 victory.

Entering with a 20-1 career record against Cincinnati, Oswalt (9-8) limited the Reds to one run and nine hits. The right-handed ace, who has won his last three decisions overall, walked two and struck out six.

Finally, Willie Harris had two hits and two RBIs and Wil Nieves connected for a two-run double to pace the Washington Nationals to a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies to complete the doubleheader sweep after earlier winning the opener 6-3 followings Wednesday's washout.