LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers kept Ryan Howard in check with a three-man shift on the right side of the infield. That's the only reason they were able to hold off the Philadelphia Phillies.

Casey Blake hit a two-run homer and Manny Ramirez doubled home two more during a six-run third inning that carried Derek Lowe and the Dodgers to an 8-6 victory over the NL East leaders last night.

Both of Howard's RBIs came on groundouts in the hole to second baseman Jeff Kent. The game ended when the Phillies' slugger grounded out again against Jonathan Broxton with two on — this time to Pablo Ozuna, a late-inning defensive replacement for Kent.

"I didn't even know we were going to do it," Lowe said about the shift. "I never even thought about it. The coaches came to me before the game and said, 'What do you think about a shift?' I said, 'I'll leave it up to you guys. You know the spray charts better than I do.' And it helped me twice."

Howard, the 2006 NL MVP, reached 100 RBIs for the third consecutive season and tied Houston's injured Carlos Lee for the league lead.

Howard is batting .347 since April 29 with runners in scoring position, although he was 0 for 4 in those situations yesterday.

James Loney had three RBIs for the Dodgers, who rebounded from back-to-back losses at San Francisco. The win trimmed Arizona's lead in the NL West to one game. Kent and Matt Kemp each had three hits.

Lowe (9-10) allowed three runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings, after allowing eight runs over 3 1/3 innings in a 9-6 loss at St. Louis last Wednesday.

In the ninth, Philadelphia's Shane Victorino, a St. Anthony alum from Maui, had an infield single against Broxton to load the bases and Chase Utley's two-run single made it 8-6 before Howard came up. The slugger grounded out to Ozuna, positioned in short right field.