By The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Cardinals celebrated Mark McGwire's return with a few home runs.

Scott Rolen homered on consecutive at-bats and had four RBIs, Albert Pujols also connected and the Cardinals rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Colorado Rockies 8-4 Saturday.

McGwire, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch, was given a pregame standing ovation by the crowd of 46,471. It was his first appearance at Busch Stadium since retiring after the 2001 season.

Rolen has never hit more than 31 home runs in a season, but leads the major leagues with 23 RBIs and has seven homers.

Jason Marquis (1-1) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings to help the Cardinals win their second straight after a 1-6 start at home, their worst since 1973. Todd Helton hit a two-run homer off him in the third.

Shawn Estes (2-1) entered with a 1.29 ERA and had been 2-0 for the first time since winning his first four decisions in 1997. He lasted 4 1-3 innings, giving up seven runs and 10 hits.

Astros 14, Brewers 5

HOUSTON - Richard Hidalgo hit a pair of two-run doubles, and Houston beat Milwaukee for its sixth win in seven games.

Craig Biggio and Mike Lamb each hit a three-run homer for the Astros. Jeff Bagwell had a solo shot, tying Hidalgo for the team lead with four homers.

Hidalgo has 19 RBIs, second in the majors behind Scott Rolen of St. Louis, who has 23.

Biggio's first-inning double was his 525th, tying him with Ted Williams for 30th on the career list, one behind Dave Parker.

Brandon Backe (1-0) pitched 1 2-3 innings to win in relief. Matt Kinney (0-2) gave up seven runs in three innings, his ERA rising to 9.42.

Milwaukee made a season-high four errors that led to five unearned runs. Scott Podsednik homered twice for the Brewers.

Pirates 2, Mets 1

NEW YORK - Tike Redman doubled leading off the eighth, scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kendall and Pittsburgh won its second straight one-run game against New York.

Redman ripped a shot into the right-field corner against Steve Trachsel (1-2). Jack Wilson sacrificed and Kendall drove in the run with a fly ball to center as Redman beat Mike Cameron's throw to the plate.

Mike Johnson and Solomon Torres retired the final two hitters in the eighth and Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Brian Meadows (1-0) relieved Oliver Perez, who allowed just two hits and struck out six in six innings.

Rookie Jose Castillo hit his first major league homer for the Pirates, connecting on the first pitch he saw from Trachsel in the fifth inning.

Phillies 6, Expos 3

PHILADELPHIA - David Bell, Pat Burrell, Placido Polanco and Bobby Abreu homered to help hand Montreal its sixth straight loss.

Kevin Millwood (1-2) gave up three runs and seven hits in seven innings and struck out seven to win his fifth straight decision against the Expos.

Roberto Hernandez and Billy Wagner finished, with Wagner getting three straight outs for his fourth save. Philadelphia won its third straight following a 1-6 start.

Montreal has scored just 15 runs in 11 games and has not scored more than three runs in any game. The Expos are on their longest losing streak since dropping six in a row from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3 last year.

With the score 3-all in the fourth, Burrell singled off John Patterson (1-1) and Bell homered.

Padres 3, Diamondbacks 2

SAN DIEGO - Ismael Valdez won his first start of the season and San Diego edged Arizona to snap a three-game skid.

Richie Sexson hit a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks, but San Diego took advantage of a wild Brandon Webb (1-1) to score three times in the first inning.

Valdez (1-0) went six innings, drawing the start after three relief appearances this season. He moved into the rotation in place of injured Sterling Hitchcock.

Akinori Otsuka escaped trouble in the eighth after allowing runners to reach first and third with one out. He got Luis Gonzalez on a popup and struck out Sexson.

Trevor Hoffman finished with a perfect ninth for his second save.

Dodgers 5, Giants 4

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds hit his 663rd homer and second in two days, but Los Angeles still beat San Francisco again.

A night earlier, Bonds hit a two-run homer against Eric Gagne in the ninth inning of a 3-2 loss. Saturday's homer was Bonds' fifth this season.

Milton Bradley homered and drove in two runs for the Dodgers, who won their fourth straight despite a shaky ninth inning from Gagne.

Paul Lo Duca and Jose Hernandez each had four hits, and Jose Lima made a successful first start for Los Angeles. Lima (2-0) allowed two runs in five innings.

Gagne allowed a leadoff homer to Pedro Feliz in the ninth, then walked Jeffrey Hammonds and J.T. Snow around Neifi Perez's sacrifice. But Gagne earned his fourth save - and 67th straight since August 2002 - when he got Marquis Grissom to ground into a game-ending double play.

Kirk Rueter (0-1) allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings for the Giants, who lost their third straight.

Braves 4, Marlins 1

ATLANTA - Chipper Jones homered for the second straight night, and Russ Ortiz outpitched Josh Beckett to lead the Braves over the World Series champions.

Jesse Garcia added his first homer in more than four years, helping Atlanta move back over .500 at 6-5.

Florida arrived in Atlanta with the best record in the majors (8-1) and a seven-game winning streak but has lost the first two of the three-game series.

Ortiz (1-2) gave up one run and six hits in 6 2-3 innings, lowering his ERA from 6.75 to 4.50. John Smoltz, who followed Kevin Gryboski and Chris Reitsma out of the bullpen, got three straight outs for his third save, completing a six-hitter.

Beckett (1-1) entered with a 0.64 ERA that soared to 2.21. He struck out seven, but he allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings.