Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers won’t be counted out of the NL West that easily.

Ramirez hit his 30th home run of the season — 10th since joining the Dodgers — and Los Angeles beat San Diego 8-4 on Tuesday night.

“It’s been great for me, having Manny over here,” manager Joe Torre said. “Even though he terrorized me for 12 years in New York, it’s nice to see other managers wrestling with their decisions about whether to pitch to him or not. And the month he’s been here, he’s been A-No. 1 for us.”

With the win, the Dodgers crept within 11⁄2 games of the division-leading Diamondbacks, after Arizona lost 8-2 to St. Louis. And last season’s NL champion Rockies are just five back after beating the Giants 6-5.

“Our focus has to continue to be on us and we just have to play better,” Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said.

Meanwhile in Chicago, the Cubs got some bad news when starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano left after five innings against the Astros. Manager Lou Piniella said Zambrano left because of arm problems and will have his right arm examined Wednesday.

“He told our pitching coach he wasn’t feeling good,” Piniella said. “It has to be in his arm. I just don’t know. We’ll let you know tomorrow when we find out.”

Ramirez reached the 30-homer mark for the 12th time. The only players who have done it more often are Hank Aaron (15), Barry Bonds (14), Babe Ruth (13) and Mike Schmidt (13).

Since the trade, the Dodgers are only 15-16. But no one can fault Ramirez, who is hitting .414 with 29 RBIs in 31 games. His 1,701 career RBIs are one behind Reggie Jackson for 21st all-time, and he needs just one for his 12th 100-RBI campaign. The record is 13, shared by Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.

“I’m sure both sides are better for the separation,” Torre said. “I mean, he seems happy here. I don’t know what he was like when he was over there because I wasn’t there. They’re playing well since he left and it’s a lot calmer over there.”

Andre Ethier had three hits including a homer, and rookie Clayton Kershaw (5-3) allowed a run and three hits over the first seven innings to help the Dodgers reduce the Diamondbacks’ lead in the division to 11⁄2 games.

Kershaw, who struck out six, was pulled after walking the first two batters in the eighth. Both runners scored when Ramon Troncoso gave up an RBI double to Luis Rodriguez and a two-run single to Kevin Kouzmanoff, slashing the Padres’ deficit to 8-4. But lefty Joe Beimel retired the next three batters and pitched a scoreless ninth to end it.

The Dodgers have rebounded with four straight wins following an eight-game losing streak, which was Torre’s longest as a manager since 1982 with the Atlanta Braves.

“Everybody’s showing a lot of life, and it’s been real fun,” Beimel said. “That losing streak was kind of crazy. It was like we couldn’t do anything right. We knew we were a better team than what we were showing, and I think everybody in here figured that once we snapped that streak that we’d win a bunch of games in a row and get back in it.”

At Arizona, Adam Wainwright helped himself by doubling in two runs, and Troy Glaus hit one of St. Louis’ three homers in an 8-2 victory over the Diamondbacks.

Yadier Molina and Felipe Lopez hit back-to-back shots to give Wainwright an early 5-0 lead. That made it seven home runs in two games for the Cardinals against the Diamondbacks.

St. Louis is 51⁄2 back of Milwaukee in the wild-card race.

“There’s no sports writer, no fan that’s telling me we’re out of this thing,” Wainwright said. “Until the last game of the season I’m battling like we’re going to be ready for the playoffs.”

Wainwright (8-3), in his third start since returning from the disabled list, shut out the Diamondbacks through five before giving up a run in the sixth. He struck out seven and walked two, yielding three hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Yusmeiro Petit (3-4) gave up five runs and four hits in 4 2-3 innings, the fourth Arizona starting pitcher in a row to have a rough outing.

“Sometimes it’s contagious,” Melvin said. “The next guy tries doubly hard to give you a good, solid outing. It certainly isn’t characteristic of our staff, our rotation.”

Mets 6, Brewers 5, 10 innings

At Milwaukee, Carlos Beltran hit a three-run homer and Endy Chavez drove in the decisive run in the 10th inning for New York.

Six relievers combined for seven shutout innings, helping the NL East leaders remain two games ahead of second-place Philadelphia. The Mets won for the 16th time in 21 games.

Phillies 4, Nationals 0

At Washington, Cole Hamels (12-8) pitched into the eighth inning and Jimmy Rollins drove in two runs as Philadelphia snapped Washington’s seven-game winning streak.

Hamels gave up five hits in 7 1-3 innings, striking out six and walking three.

Astros 9, Cubs 7, 11 innings

At Chicago, Geoff Blum hit a two-run homer off Kerry Wood (4-3) in the 11th inning to send Houston to its seventh straight victory.

The first-place Cubs, who have lost four straight, all at home, remained 41⁄2 games ahead of Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Rockies 6, Giants 5, 12 innings

At Denver, Ryan Spilborghs singled home Omar Quintanilla with one out in the bottom of the 12th for Colorado.

Quintanilla started the rally by singling off Keiichi Yabu (3-6), and Matt Holliday walked. Giants closer Brian Wilson came on and Spilborghs lined a single down the right-field line to end the game.

Braves 16, Marlins 14

At Miami, pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay had an RBI double in the ninth inning and Atlanta spoiled a seven-run rally by Florida.

Kelly Johnson had four hits and four RBIs, and Omar Infante had four hits and two RBIs for the Braves, who had a season-high in runs.

Pirates 3, Reds 2

At Cincinnati, rookies Brandon Moss and Andy LaRoche hit back-to-back home runs to help Pittsburgh snap a 10-game losing streak.