Manny Ramirez made his return to the LA Dodgers following a 50-game suspension in a 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres.

Mixed responses from the vocal crowd greeted Ramirez on his return as he went 0-3 with a walk before leaving in the sixth inning.

The Dodgers climbed into the lead with a five-run first inning while Rafael Furcal had four hits and Matt Kemp and Russell Martin had two RBI each.

Chase Utley had RBIs in each of the first two innings as the Philadelphia Phillies secured a 7-2 win over the New York Mets.

Utley hit a single before Greg Dobbs added a two-run base hit in the first inning. Utley then added a sacrifice fly while Jason Werth struck a solo home run for the Phillies in a three-run third.

Albert Pujols struck his fourth grand slam of the season while Jarrett Hoffpauir hit the go-ahead runs in the ninth inning as the St Louis Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 7-4.

Pujols put the Cardinals 4-3 ahead in the eighth before adding an RBI double to make sure of the win.

The Cardinals now hold sole possession of first place in the National League Central.

Jake Foxdrew a walk-off walk with two outs in the 10th inning as the the Chicago Cubs defeated the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers had gone ahead in the fourth when Carlos Zambrano walked Corey Hart with the bases loaded before the Cubs levelled in the fifth on Zambrano's RBI single off Jeff Suppan.

Ryan Sadowski won on his home debut as the San Francisco Giants routed the Houston Astros 13-0.

Pablo Sandoval got the onslaught underway with a two-run home run three batters into the game. Travis Ishikawa added a three-run homer after review when it was initially ruled a double.

Jorge De La Rosa pitched eight shutout innings to guide the Colorado Rockies to a 5-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

De La Rosa struck out six and walked four while Ian Stewart hit a solo home run for the Rockies.

Ramon Vazquez struck a two-run homer as the Pittsburgh Pirates overcame the Florida Marlins 7-4.

Vazquez's two-run blast came in the second while Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in a three-run seventh.

Brooks Conrad struck his first career home run as the Atlanta Braves edged the Washington Nationals 9-8. Conrad homered in the seventh to break a 5-5 tie while Chippers Jones, Yunel Escobar and Matt Diaz all had two RBI for the Braves.