Sluggers Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols each whacked three home runs on Sunday.

Howard homered in his first three at-bats, raising his major-league-leading total to 52, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves, 8-7, Sunday in the opener of their second straight doubleheader split.

Atlanta won the second game, 3-1 in 11 innings after scoring the go-ahead run on catcher Carlos Ruiz’s throwing error.

Pujols also homered in his first three at-bats in St. Louis’ 6-3 home victory over Pittsburgh.

Phillies 8-1, Braves 7-3

Philadelphia – Howard’s 50th home run was a solo shot in the second inning, and he followed with a two-run drive in the third. His third homer was an opposite-field, solo shot to left in the sixth that made it 6-1. After going 4-for-4 with four RBIs in the opener, he was 2-for-4 in the second game.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 3

St. Louis – Pujols homered in his first three at-bats to end an 8-for-38 slump. Pujols connected with the bases empty in the first and hit two-run drives in the third and fifth, all off Ian Snell (12-9). It was his third three-homer game, his second of the season, and raised his home run total to 42.

Astros 2, Mets 1

Houston – Roy Oswalt (11-8) retired the first 18 batters before Jose Reyes beat out a bouncer to shortstop leading off the seventh. Oswalt struck out nine and allowed three hits in 71â3 innings.

Marlins 10, Brewers 3

Milwaukee- Scott Olsen (12-7) allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings as Florida (68-68) completed a three-game sweep and became the first team since the 1899 Louisville Colonels to return to .500 after falling 20 games below.

Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 3

Washington – Austin Kearns hit a two-run double off Brandon Webb (14-6) in a four-run eighth.

Giants 7, Cubs 4

Chicago – Barry Bonds homered for the second straight game. Bonds, 26 home runs shy of Hank Aaron’s record of 755, has five in his last 11 games.

Padres 2, Reds 1

San Diego – David Wells held Cincinnati to one run and five hits in six innings in his first game since his hometown Padres acquired him from Boston on Thursday.

Rockies 12, Dodgers 5

Los Angeles – Matt Holliday homered to cap a six-run fifth, and Byung-Hyun Kim (8-10) allowed two runs and eight hits in 62â3 innings.