It didn’t take long for Manny Ramirez to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

The sometimes moody, sometimes goofy — almost always entertaining — slugger went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs on Sunday, wrapping up a stellar first weekend in Los Angeles by helping the Dodgers to a 9-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The 12-time All-Star, who came over in Thursday’s three-way trade with Pittsburgh and Boston, was 8-for-13 with five RBIs in the three games he played at Chavez Ravine.

Ramirez hit an RBI single in the first inning, doubled in a run in the second and went deep in the fifth for career homer No. 512, passing Mel Ott and moving into a tie with Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks for 20th place.

His second home run with the Dodgers traveled an estimated 436 feet into the pavilion seats in left field on a 1-2 pitch from reliever Billy Buckner. Ramirez capped his first four-hit game since June 1, 2007, with an infield single in the ninth.

“They gave me a lot of good pitches to hit and I drove it,” Ramirez said. “I’m still nervous out there, but I’m going to play hard no matter what.”

The Dodgers salvaged a split of the four-game series and sliced Arizona’s division lead to one game. Matt Kemp, whose career-best 19-game hitting streak ended Saturday, had a homer and RBI single.

Jason Johnson lasted just 4 1-3 innings for Los Angeles and left with a 5-3 lead after surrendering a solo homer to Stephen Drew and a walk to Orlando Hudson. The right-hander, making his second spot start in place of Brad Penny, allowed five hits after pitching six scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over San Francisco on Tuesday.

Penny will rejoin his teammates in St. Louis for the start of a six-game road swing. He hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers since June 14 because of shoulder tendinitis and bursitis, but is scheduled to pitch Friday night at San Francisco.

Brian Falkenborg relieved Johnson and retired both batters he faced. Cory Wade (2-1) worked 1 2-3 innings to get the win.

Doug Davis (4-6) retired only five of the 13 batters he faced, allowing five runs and six hits over 1 2-3 innings. The left-hander was lifted after three straight two-out hits, including RBI singles by Kemp and Russell Martin and a run-scoring double to right-center by Ramirez.

Davis’ outing matched his shortest since Aug. 31, 2004, with Milwaukee, when he was struck by a line drive off the bat of Pittsburgh’s Tike Redman with none out in the second and left that game with a bruised left forearm.

“I didn’t have control. And when I got it in the zone, they hit it hard,” Davis said. “I didn’t do my job today, but I’ll go out there again in five days and do my job.”



At Chicago, Reed Johnson and Alfonso Soriano hit back-to-back homers in the eighth, helping the Cubs escape after blowing a three-run lead in the top half of the inning.

Chad Gaudin (3-1) got the win even though he allowed the tying two-run homer to Andy LaRoche in the eighth, helping Chicago (67-45) move 22 games above .500 for the first time since 1989.

Craig Hansen (0-1) took the loss for Pittsburgh.



Ty Wigginton homered to back a strong start from Randy Wolf (7-10), and host Houston completed its first three-game sweep of the Mets since September 1993.

Oliver Perez (7-7) lost for only the second time in seven starts for the Mets, who have dropped four in a row and were shut out for the fourth time this season.



At Miami, pinch-hitter Seth Smith drove in Cory Sullivan with the winning run with a single off Joe Nelson (2-1) in the ninth inning.

Taylor Buchholz (4-3) pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and closer Brian Fuentes retired Jorge Cantu and Josh Willingham with the bases loaded for his 20th save in 24 chances.



Jorge Campillo (6-4) shut out visiting Milwaukee for seven innings and Atlanta beat Ben Sheets and the Brewers to avoid a series sweep.

Sheets (10-5) gave up six hits, including four doubles, and three runs with three walks in six innings. He gave up only two earned runs but fell to 1-4 in seven starts.

The loss snapped the Brewers’ franchise-record nine-game road winning streak.



At Washington, rookie Collin Balester (2-3) allowed one run in 5 1-3 innnings to complete the Nationals’ second sweep of the year.

Johnny Cueto (7-11) took the loss for the Reds.



At San Diego, Greg Maddux (5-8) drove in a run and pitched six strong innings for his 352nd career victory.

Trevor Hoffman worked the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 chances and career save No. 547.

Kevin Correia (2-6) took the loss for San Francisco.



At St. Louis, Shane Victorino’s three-run home run capped a four-run eighth inning against a vulnerable Cardinals bullpen, and Philadelphia’s Brad Lidge survived a shaky ninth to improve to 28-for-28 in save situations.

Chase Utley added his 28th homer for the Phillies, who have gone deep in 12 straight games.

Chad Durbin (4-2) got the victory despite allowing a run on two hits and a walk in one inning.

Ryan Ludwick hit his fourth homer in eight at-bats for the Cardinals. Troy Glaus went deep in the ninth for St. Louis.