On the night Jim Thome's season officially ended, Ryan Howard made it quite clear that the Philadelphia Phillies have a capable backup.

The young first baseman did his best impression of the Phillies' injured slugger by hitting a grand slam in the ninth inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-5 Wednesday night.

Thome, who has been hurt all year, will have season-ending surgery on his problematic right elbow next week.

"It's definitely a loss, being without Thome," Phillies pitcher Brett Myers said. "But the way Ryan Howard's playing right now, I think that we'll be OK."

Last season, it looked like Howard's talent might go to waste behind Thome. The youngster hit 46 homers in the minors - almost one every 10 at-bats - but the Phillies had invested $85 million in first base a year earlier.

While Thome will still collect his $13.2 million this season, Howard finally has a chance to cash in on his potential.

"You never want to see anybody hurt, but for me, it's basically going out there and trying to do the same thing every night and just keep playing," Howard said after his second home run in as many nights.

Howard, who earlier had an RBI grounder, drove the first pitch he saw from rookie closer Yhency Brazoban 453 feet into the seats in right-center at Dodger Stadium. He also hit a two-run shot off Brazoban - also on the first pitch - in the 10th inning at Philadelphia on July 19 to give the Phillies a 5-4 win.

Brazoban (2-7) gave up four runs without retiring a batter, while Ugueth Urbina (2-0) pitched a hitless eighth inning for the win.

Myers allowed four hits and five walks in seven innings. He struck out eight, and gave up home runs to Jeff Kent and Milton Bradley.

The Dodgers' Derek Lowe gave up five runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings.

At Miami, Mike Lowell and the Marlins used the hidden-ball trick to stem a Diamondbacks rally, and Florida scored four runs in the eighth to rout Arizona.With the Diamondbacks trailing 6-5, Luis Terrero took a lead off third base in the eighth before Marlins closer Todd Jones stepped on the mound. Lowell quickly tagged out the stunned baserunner.Miguel Cabrera hit his 26th homer for Florida and rookie Jason Vargas (3-0) pitched five solid innings. Brad Halsey (8-8) allowed six runs and eight hits in the loss.

At Atlanta, Andruw Jones hit two homers, and Marcus Giles' RBI single gave the Braves the victory after they squandered a three-run lead in the ninth.Giles extended his hitting streak to 14 games with two outs and two runners on in the 12th with a single off Brian Cooper (0-1).Blaine Boyer (1-1) earned his first major league win with two scoreless innings.Jones homered in the sixth and eighth innings to up his season total to 37.

At Houston, Morgan Ensberg and Orlando Palmeiro doubled with the bases loaded for the Astros.Craig Biggio also had a run-scoring double and four hits.Jose Vidro and pitcher Livan Hernandez (13-5) homered for the Nationals, who have not strung together back-to-back wins on the road since July 3. Wandy Rodriguez (7-5) lasted five innings for the win.

At San Diego, Kris Benson took a one-hit shutout into the ninth inning and David Wright tied career highs with four hits and six RBIs for New York.Benson (8-4) allowed one run and three hits in 8 1-3 innings, striking out six and walking one. Brian Lawrence (6-12) lost for the sixth time in seven decisions.

At Chicago, Ryan Freel homered on the first pitch of the game and Cincinnati sent Chicago to its eighth straight loss.Eric Milton (6-12) pitched seven strong innings to move the Cubs (54-60) six games under .500 for the first time this season.Rich Hill (0-2) took the loss, while Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless ninth in his third relief appearance this season.

At Milwaukee, Jeff Suppan (11-8) allowed four hits and four walks over seven innings to outduel Ben Sheets.Sheets (8-8) gave up two earned runs and five hits in his second complete game of the season. He struck out nine and didn't walk a batter.

Kenny Rogers fared much better with the arbitrator than he did against the Boston Red Sox.Rushed into the rotation when his suspension for shoving two cameramen was cut from 20 games to 13, Rogers was roughed up at Fenway Park in his return to the mound Wednesday night. He gave up Manny Ramirez's long homer during a five-run fourth inning, and Boston beat the Texas Rangers 16-5.Rogers (11-5) allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings, walking one and striking out five in his first loss since July 3.

At Oakland, Calif., Nick Swisher drove in the tying run before scoring on Mark Ellis' infield single in the seventh, and the Athletics moved back into a first-place tie in the AL West.Adam Melhuse homered and later scored on a wild pitch in a three-run seventh for the A's, who rallied for their 19th win in 22 games since July 19, when they trailed the Angels by 81/2 games.Angels rookie Ervin Santana outpitched Barry Zito and left with a 2-1 lead. But in the seventh, Jay Payton tripled and scored on Swisher's single off Scot Shields (7-7). All-Star Justin Duchscherer (5-2) pitched a perfect seventh, and Huston Street finished for his 14th save.

At New York, Juan Uribe tripled off Mariano Rivera (5-3) in the 10th, then slid in under catcher Jorge Posada's tag to score the go-ahead run on Scott Podsednik's grounder.The White Sox, with the best record in the majors, took two of three at Yankee Stadium. Each game was decided by one run. Dustin Hermanson earned his 30th save in 31 opportunities.

At Toronto, Orlando Hudson homered off Craig Dingman (0-1) in the ninth inning to win it. Shea Hillenbrand also connected for the Blue Jays. Dmitri Young hit a two-run homer and Magglio Ordonez also went deep for the Tigers, who have lost five of six.Toronto ace Roy Halladay will not return from the disabled list Monday as the team had hoped. The Blue Jays are unsure when he will be able to pitch again.

At Baltimore, Jay Gibbons' second career grand slam capped a five-run first inning, and the Orioles won their first series since the All-Star break.Miguel Tejada drove in three runs for Baltimore, which improved to 4-2 under interim manager Sam Perlozzo. Rodrigo Lopez (11-6) came within one out of a complete game and improved to 4-1 in his last six starts.Rafael Palmeiro can return from his 10-day suspension Thursday, although Perlozzo is leaning toward leaving him out of the lineup for a day.

At Kansas City, Mo., Grady Sizemore hit a grand slam and an RBI single, sending the hapless Royals to their team record-tying 12th straight loss.C.C. Sabathia (8-9) went six innings for the Indians, 5-0 on a six-game trip to Detroit and Kansas City.One night after the Royals became the third major league home team to give up 11 runs in the ninth inning, they matched a club-record 12-game losing streak of 1997. It's the longest skid in the majors this year.Zack Greinke (3-14) has the most losses in the majors.

At Seattle, Luis Rodriguez's tiebreaking single and Joe Mauer's two-run double in the 14th helped Minnesota snap a three-game skid.