PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard is hitting all the homers he can to keep Philadelphia in the playoff picture, trying to overcome bullpen breakdowns and late-inning mistakes.

Howard homered in his first three at-bats, raising his major league-leading total to 52, and the Phillies rallied after wasting a five-run lead to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-7 yesterday in the opener of their second straight doubleheader split. Friday's game was postponed by rain.

Atlanta kept Howard from going deep in the second game, winning 3-1 in 11 innings after scoring the go-ahead run on catcher Carlos Ruiz's throwing error. The Phillies, who won Saturday's nightcap, dropped to 1 1/2 games back of San Diego, the NL wild-card leader while the Braves fell five games behind the Padres.

"It was a good game, a good day, for me, I would guess," Howard said. "I just wanted to keep going out and having good ABs and have a good swing."

Howard's 50th home run was a solo shot in the second inning, and he followed with a two-run drive in the third. His third homer was an opposite-field, solo shot to left in the sixth that made it 6-1.

Howard leads the major leagues with 133 RBIs. Each homer, all off Tim Hudson, was greeted with a standing ovation and chants of "M-V-P!" as Howard rounded the bases.

"That last homer he hit I thought was his most impressive one," Hudson said. "It was a four-seamer up and away. It was off the plate away. This is a great park for him, too. It will definitely bring confidence to him as hitter."

After going 4 for 4 with four RBIs in the opener, Howard was 2 for 4 with a walk in the second game.

Geoff Geary (7-1), who won the opener, allowed Scott Thorman's double leading off the 11th in the second game. Ruiz threw Pete Orr's sacrifice bunt into left field, allowing pinch-runner Tony Pena to score, and Orr came in on Geary's wild pitch.

Chad Paronto (2-2) pitched a scoreless 10th and Bob Wickman pitched the 11th for his 12th save.

Philadelphia led 6-3 in the ninth in the opener, but Fabio Castro allowed a go-ahead, three-run, opposite-field homer to right by Matt Diaz. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino hit RBI singles off Wickman (0-1) in the bottom half.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 3: Albert Pujols homered in his first three at-bats to end an 8-for-38 slump, connecting with the bases empty in the first, and hitting two-run drives in the third and fifth, all off Ian Snell (12-9), leaving the slugger with 42 homers this season as host St. Louis defeated Pittsburgh. Pujols is the only player in major league history to hit 30 homers, score 100 runs and bat .300 in his first five seasons. He is batting .321 this year.

Astros 2, Mets 1: Adam Everett put Houston ahead with a run-scoring squeeze bunt in the sixth and Jason Lane hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh in support of Roy Oswalt (11-8) who retired the first 18 batters and allowed three hits with nine strikeouts in 7 2/3 scoreless innings as the host Astros defeated New York.

Marlins 10, Brewers 3: Rookie Scott Olsen (12-7) allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings as Florida (68-68) completed a three-game sweep of host Milwaukee, and became the first team since the 1899 Louisville Colonels to return to .500 after falling 20 games below, according to Elias. The Marlins were 11-31 on May 21.

Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 3: Austin Kearns hit a two-run double off Brandon Webb (14-6) in a four-run eighth, Ryan Wagner (3-2) pitched 1 2/3 innings, and Jon Rauch pitched a perfect ninth for his first major league save as host Washington defeated Arizona.

Giants 7, Cubs 4: Barry Bonds homered for the second straight game, giving him 729 for his career and 21 this season, and Jason Schmidt (11-8) allowed three runs in seven innings as San Francisco defeated host Chicago.

Padres 2, Reds 1: David Wells held Cincinnati to one run and five hits in six innings his first game since his hometown Padres acquired him from Boston on Thursday, and Josh Bard hit a bases-loaded single that broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth as host San Diego defeated Cincinnati.

Rockies 12, Dodgers 5: Matt Holliday homered to cap a six-run fifth, Byung-Hyun Kim (8-10) allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings for his first win since Aug. 2 as Colorado defeated host Los Angeles.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

YANKEES 10, TWINS 1: Alex Rodriguez had two homers and five RBIs and Bobby Abreu doubled three times in support of Darrell Rasner (1-0) as host New York defeated Minnesota.

Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 1: Gustavo Chacin (7-3) allowed two singles in six shutout inningsand Bengie Molina had four hits as Toronto defeated host Boston.

Royals 7, White Sox 3: Ryan Shealy and Angel Berroa each homered and drove in three runs, and Mark Redman (9-8) allowed one run on four hits in seven innings as host Kansas City defeated Chicago.

Athletics 10, Orioles 1: Dan Johnson hit a grand slam in his first official at-bat back from the minors, and teammates Mark Ellis and Eric Chavez also homered in support of Esteban Loaiza (9-7) as host Oakland defeated Baltimore.

Rangers 5, Indians 2: Mark Teixeira hit a three-run homer in the seventh, and Kevin Millwood (14-9), who retired the first 14 batters, allowed two hits and struck out a season-high 10 in eight innings as host Texas defeated Cleveland.

Devil Rays 7, Mariners 6: Kevin Witt hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning off Felix Hernandez (11-13), and Ty Wigginton and Greg Norton each hit two-run homers as host Tampa Bay defeated Seattle.

Angels 2, Tigers 1: Kelvim Escobar (10-12) gave up only an unearned run and two hits in eight innings, and Orlando Cabrera hit a go-ahead RBI single in the fifth off Wilfredo Ledezma (2-2) as Los Angeles defeated host Detroit.