DENVER — Vicente Padilla gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a shot in the arm and the Colorado Rockies a punch to the gut.

The right-hander, jettisoned by Texas earlier this month after angering the Rangers by throwing at hitters, returned to the National League yesterday and pitched the Dodgers to a 3-2 win over the Rockies.

"I can do a lot for this team," said Padilla (1-0), who allowed two runs and six hits in five solid innings.

Rafael Furcal, in the game for his defense, delivered a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth and Matt Kemp hit his career-high 19th homer as the Dodgers put the brakes on the surging Rockies by taking two of three at Coors Field. They also opened a four-game lead in the NL West over the wild-card leaders.

"Damn right that's what we needed and wanted," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

And now the Rockies have to go to San Francisco for a weekend series after an emotional week in Colorado, where they took three of four from the Giants before facing Los Angeles.

"We didn't win this series, but we won this homestand," said Rockies manager Jim Tracy, whose team has to face Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain this weekend. "We're still in a wonderful position."

The relieved Dodgers appear to have a much easier road ahead, with three games at Cincinnati this weekend before playing nine games against struggling Arizona and San Diego.

Four relievers combined to preserve Padilla's first win for his new team, and Jonathan Broxton got the last four outs for his 28th save in 32 chances. The Rockies put runners on first and second with one out in the ninth before Broxton struck out Eric Young Jr. and Seth Smith.

"I'm not worried about cooling anybody off. It's all about our record," Torre said. "We're trying to enhance our record. We hold our fate in our own hand."

PIRATES 3, PHILLIES 2

Andrew McCutchen hit a solo homer in the first and fellow rookie Garrett Jones hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning against J.A. Happ as Pittsburgh rallied for the second time in three nights to beat Philadelphia.

ASTROS 4, CARDINALS 3

Jeff Keppinger hit a tiebreaking homer with two out in the top of the ninth inning as Houston rallied to avoid its second three-game sweep of the season in St. Louis, and win for only the fifth time in its last 19 road games.

NATIONALS 5, CUBS 4

Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer and Adam Dunn added a solo shot as visiting Washington took a 5-0 lead before turning back Chicago, which has gone 6-15 since Aug. 5 to fall nine games behind St. Louis in the NL Central.

REDS 8, BREWERS 5

Justin Lehr (3-1) overcame a rocky start to pitch into the eighth inning and drew a two-out walk to start a five-run fifth as visiting Cincinnati rallied from a 4-0 deficit to complete a three-game sweep of Milwaukee.

METS 10, MARLINS 3

Tim Redding (2-4) allowed three runs — all on leadoff homers — and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, and Fernando Tatis and Angel Pagan hit homers to help visiting past Florida end a five-game losing streak.

BRAVES 9, PADRES 1

Javier Vazquez (11-9) snapped his first two-game losing streak of the season, spacing five hits over seven scoreless innings, and everyone in host Atlanta's lineup contributed to a 17-hit attack in a romp of San Diego.

DIAMONDBACKS 11, GIANTS 0

Mark Reynolds, who missed the three previous games with the flu, homered and drove in two runs in his return, and Yusmeiro Petit (3-8) scattered four hits over six innings as Arizona ended a disappointing road trip with a rout of San Francisco.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RANGERS 7, YANKEES 2

Ian Kinsler homered twice, the Texas bullpen pitched shutout ball and the Rangers became the first visitors to win a series at Yankee Stadium since mid-June, taking 2 of 3 from New York.

WHITE SOX 9, RED SOX 5

Jayson Nix drove in three runs and Chicago battered rookie Junichi Tazawa (2-3) for all nine runs on 10 hits in four innings, scoring four times in both the second and third innings, to avoid a four-game sweep.

INDIANS 5, ORIOLES 4

Andy Marte hit a two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch from Jim Johnson with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, lifting Cleveland over Baltimore. Johnson, who took over as Baltimore's closer on July 30, had been 4 for 4 in save opportunities.

ROYALS 8, MARINERS 4

Yuniesky Betancourt, Brayan Pena, Alberto Callaspo and David DeJesus homered in visiting Kansas City's first four-homer game of the season and Kyle Davies (5-9) gave up two runs and five hits in six innings to beat Seattle.

ATHLETICS 2, ANGELS 0

Rookie Trevor Cahill (7-12) allowed just a two-out single by Vladimir Guerrero in the fourth inning and a leadoff double by Jeff Mathis in the sixth, and two relievers finished the three-hitter for visiting Oakland. The Athletics' Ryan Sweeney came within a double of hitting for the cycle.