PHOENIX — Stephen Drew, Adam Dunn and Conor Jackson each drove in two runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the nose-diving Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3 on Friday night.

Manny Ramirez had four hits for the Dodgers, who lost their eighth straight — all on a 10-game road trip that mercifully ends this weekend. Los Angeles dropped 4 1/2 games behind Arizona in the NL West.

Down 2-1 in the fifth, the Diamondbacks cashed in on a throwing error by Los Angeles shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, scoring three times to give Doug Davis (6-8) his second victory since July 30.

Hiroki Kuroda (7-10) retired the first 10 batters before giving up a single to Chris Young, who scored the game’s first run on Adam Dunn’s double to the left-field corner.

Leading 4-3 in the seventh, the Diamondbacks pulled away on RBI singles by Drew, Dunn and Mark Reynolds and a second error by Garciaparra that led to a fourth run in the inning.

Mets 5, Marlins 4

MIAMI  — Carlos Beltran hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning off Kevin Gregg, and the New York bullpen held on to beat Florida.

Before Beltran’s homer, the Mets were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Trailing 2-1, they left the bases loaded in the seventh and stranded two in the eighth.

Gregg (6-8) retired the first two batters in the ninth, and New York was down to its final strike when Luis Castillo singled on a 1-2 pitch. David Wright also singled, Carlos Delgado was hit by a pitch and Beltran pulled the first pitch over the right-field wall.

Luis Ayala earned his third save despite giving up four hits in the ninth, including an RBI single by pinch hitter Mike Jacobs and a run-scoring double by Jorge Cantu. Wes Helms grounded out with runners at second and third to end the game.

Joe Smith (2-3) pitched a scoreless eighth. Beltran’s homer was his 20th, and he drove in all five New York runs.

The grand slam left the third-place Marlins reeling at the start of a big weekend series. They’ve been fading in the NL East and fell seven games behind the Mets, who increased their lead over second-place Philadelphia to two games.

Cubs 3, Phillies 2

CHICAGO — Alfonso Soriano hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, and Chicago beat Philadelphia for its seventh straight win.

Soriano’s first homer in 15 days and 23rd of the season came off Clay Condrey (3-4). Chicago made the most of four hits and improved to a major league-best 85-50, including 51-19 at Wrigley Field.

Philadelphia had put runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the seventh before Ryan Howard’s hard grounder went off Derrek Lee. The first baseman retrieved the ball and flipped to pitcher Jeff Samardzija for the out, but replays showed Howard beat the throw. Phillies third-base coach Steve Smith was ejected by plate umpire Bill Welke during the ensuing argument.

Samardzija (1-0), a former Notre Dame receiver, got his first major league win. Carlos Marmol struck out two with two on in the eighth and pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save in nine chances.

Brewers 3, Pirates 1

PITTSBURGH — Ryan Braun hit a three-run home run, and Milwaukee handed Pittsburgh its eighth straight loss.

Dave Bush (9-9) allowed one run in 6 2-3 innings for Milwaukee, which expanded its lead to 4 1/2 games over St. Louis in the NL wild-card race.

Salomon Torres picked up his 26th save for the Brewers, who have won six of seven and improved to 9-1 against Pittsburgh this season.

Astros 3, Cardinals 2

HOUSTON — Lance Berkman hit a game-ending solo home run off former teammate Russ Springer to lift Houston over St. Louis.

Berkman’s 27th homer on a 2-1 pitch from Springer (2-1) hit off the facade in left field, and fireworks exploded while he rounded the bases. The Astros raced out of the dugout, and Berkman flipped his helmet in the air as he leaped onto home plate.

Reds 11, Giants 7

CINCINNATI — Edwin Encarnacion hit his second career grand slam off Barry Zito, and Chris Dickerson homered and drove in four runs to help Cincinnati to just its ninth win in the past 32 games.

The Reds’ best offensive showing since they traded Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn helped All-Star right-hander Edinson Volquez (16-5) get another milestone win.

Nationals 7, Braves 3

WASHINGTON — Lastings Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman both drove in two runs and Washington beat Atlanta for a season-high fourth straight win.

Odalis Perez (6-10) allowed three runs — two earned — and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings to win for the first time in four starts. The left-hander walked two and struck out three.

Joel Hanrahan, the sixth Washington pitcher, got the final two outs for his seventh save.

Cristian Guzman, who became the second National to hit for the cycle in Thursday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, had two hits and is on an 11-for-18 tear.

Rockies 9, Padres 4

SAN DIEGO — Garrett Atkins hit two home runs and had a season-high five RBIs to lead Colorado to its 10th win in 13 games and snap San Diego’s three-game winning streak.

The defending NL champion Rockies are trying to position themselves for another late-season playoff run, trailing Arizona by six games in the NL West with 26 games left. They won 14 of their last 15 in the regular season last year to make the playoffs.

Atkins hit a three-run homer to cap a four-run third inning against Padres rookie Dirk Hayhurst (0-1). He added his 18th homer, a two-run shot, in the ninth.

Aaron Cook (16-8) allowed five hits and two runs in six solid innings, the first time he’s lasted that long in five starts.