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, and Albert Pujols also connected as the Cardinals rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4, Saturday.

McGwire 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.

He threw out the ceremonial first pitch with 18-month-old son Max cradled in his left arm, a wild high-and-inside delivery that hit a technician standing behind the plate in the leg.

“It was pretty awesome,” McGwire said. “I tell people all the time, this is the best baseball city in the country. There’s no other better fans in the country that appreciate their baseball, and that’s the biggest reason why I stayed here.”

Rolen never has hit more than 31 homers in a season, but for now he’s ahead of McGwire’s then-record 70-homer pace in 1998. His second two-homer game of the season came in the Cardinals’ 12th game, while McGwire got his seventh in the 13th game six years ago.

“If this is July and you have a couple of good weeks, I don’t think it’s as celebrated as it is at the start of the season,” Rolen said. “But I’m not going to complain about anything, I know that, and I’m not going to analyze it.”

Padres 3, D’backs 2

San Diego — Ismael Valdez won his first start of the season, and San Diego edged Arizona to snap a three-game losing streak. Richie Sexson hit a two-run homer for the Diamondbacks.

Dodgers 5, Giants 4

San Francisco — Barry Bonds hit another late home run that didn’t make a difference against Los Angeles. Bonds hit his 663rd career homer, a solo shot off Darren Dreifort, in the eighth inning. Jose Lima made a successful first start for Los Angeles. Lima (2-0) beat the Giants for the first time in five starts dating to 1999.

Astros 14, Brewers 5

Houston — Richard Hidalgo hit a pair of two-run doubles and drove in four runs, and Houston beat Milwaukee for its sixth win in seven games. Craig Biggio and Mike Lamb hit three-run homers for the Astros, who are 3-3 at home and 5-1 on the road. Jeff Bagwell had a solo shot, tying Hidalgo for the team lead with four homers Hidalgo has 19 RBIs, second in the major leagues behind Scott Rolen of St. Louis, who has 23.

Braves 4, Marlins 1

Atlanta — Chipper Jones homered for the second straight night, and Russ Ortiz outpitched Josh Beckett to lead Atlanta over Florida. Jesse Garcia added his first homer in more than four years, helping Atlanta move back over .500 at 6-5.

Pirates 2, Mets 1

New York — Tike Redman doubled leading off the eighth inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kendall as Pittsburgh defeated New York. Redman ripped a shot past first base and 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.

Reds 3, Cubs 2

Chicago — Kerry Wood was ejected in a heated exchange with plate umpire Eric Cooper after blowing a one-run lead in the ninth inning . Wily Mo Pena doubled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the ninth, and Cincinnati beat Chicago. Sean Casey singled and after Wood (2-1) walked Adam Dunn on a 3-2 pitch, Wood waved in disgust. Cooper then started toward the mound before Cubs catcher Michael Barrett got between the two.

Phillies 6, Expos 3

Philadelphia — David Bell, Pat Burrell, Placido Polanco and Bobby Abreu homered to lead Philadelphia over Montreal, the Expos’ sixth straight loss. Kevin Millwood (1-2) gave up three runs and seven hits in seven innings and struck out seven.