MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers played with Manny and without him, and still finished the first half of the season with the best record in baseball.

So what's Joe Torre's grade of his group at the All-Star break?

"Incomplete," the manager said. "That's the only thing I can give it at this point because the back half, just like in golf the back nine, is the toughest one to play. We're going to have to go out there and continue to live up to ourselves."

All-Star Orlando Hudson homered twice, Clayton Kershaw won his fifth consecutive road start and Los Angeles capped the best first half in the majors with a 7-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday.

Manny Ramirez went 3 for 3 and scored twice to continue his torrid pace since returning from a 50-game drug suspension, helping the Dodgers finish a 6-3 road trip for their best start in 32 years at 56-32.

"Now we're coming into the second half and I think the second half is a tough one," Ramirez said. "We hope everything goes well and the main goal is to go to the World Series."

The Dodgers have history on their side.

The 1977 Dodgers were 57-31 after 88 games and 59-33 at the All-Star break in Tommy Lasorda's first full season as manager, eventually losing the World Series to the New York Yankees in six games.

These Dodgers seem poised to make a similar run with Kershaw improving to 4-0 with a microscopic 0.76 ERA in his last six starts and Ramirez picking up where he left off.

"The main thing I'm worried about is my legs and I'm getting there day by day, so we've still got three more months to go and I'm going to get there," the slugger said.

Ramirez doubled in the first, singled in the third, walked in the fifth and doubled in the seventh. He's 11 for 29 with three homers, nine RBIs and eight runs in nine games since returning from the ban.

"He just seems to be locked in," Torre said.

Backup catcher Brad Ausmus also homered, calling it "pure luck," and James Loney drove in two runs with two singles.

Kershaw (7-5) gave up one run and two hits over six-plus innings. He struck out four and walked five, increasing his major league-high total to 59.

"I had some dumb walks," Kershaw said. "If you're going to walk them, you better not let them score. You've got to bear down with people on base. I got bailed out a little bit today."

Yovani Gallardo (8-7) lost his third straight start, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings.

"Something mechanically is a little off, so I tried to battle through it, but it's a good hitting team," Gallardo said. "Mistakes that I left up in the zone, they put the bat on it."

The Brewers, who've tumbled out of the NL Central lead by losing eight of 11, scored twice in the seventh and eighth, but Ramon Troncoso worked the ninth in place of Jonathan Broxton (toe) for his fifth save.

CARDINALS SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER:

Ryan Ludwick hit a pair of two-run homers, Adam Wainwright (10-5) allowed two runs in eight innings and St. Louis salvaged a split by beating host Chicago, 4-2, in the second game of a day-night doubleheader.

In the opener, Chicago's Carlos Zambrano (5-4) homered for the third time this season and earned a 7-3 win by allowing three runs in six innings. Micah Hoffpauir hit a three-run homer for the Cubs, who split a four-game series.

ROCKIES 8, BRAVES 7:

All-Star Brad Hawpe hit a game-ending RBI double and host Colorado rallied from a 7-3 deficit in the last three innings to split a four-game series against Atlanta. Seth Smith set up Hawpe's clutch hit with a one-out single off Luis Valdez (0-1). After Garrett Atkins flied out, Hawpe lined a 1-1 pitch into right-center to score Smith from first.

PHILLIES 5, PIRATES 2:

Pedro Feliz hit a first-inning grand slam, and J.A. Happ (6-0) allowed one run over seven innings to help host Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh. The Phillies, who won their fifth straight and capped a 9-1 homestand, scored five times in the first off rookie Virgil Vazquez (1-3).

DIAMONDBACKS 8, MARLINS 1:

All-Star Josh Johnson (8-2) blanked Arizona through six innings and Cody Ross drove in three runs with a pair of doubles as Florida beat host Arizona and split a four-game series. Jeremy Hermida hit a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole and NL batting leader Hanley Ramirez singled three times for Florida.

METS 9, REDS 7:

Gary Sheffield had three RBIs and Daniel Murphy drove in two runs to spark New York, which won two of three from visiting Cincinnati. Fernando Tatis and Brian Schneider homered in the seventh for the Mets, breaking an 80-inning home run drought for New York.

ASTROS 4, NATIONALS 0:

Kaz Matsui hit a three-run homer, and Brian Moehler (6-5) allowed seven hits in 6 1/3 innings to win for the fourth time in five decisions as host Houston split a four-game series against Washington. Geoff Blum was hit by a pitch in the seventh before Hunter Pence singled. Ivan Rodriguez struck out before Matsui's homer.

PADRES 10, GIANTS 4:

Kevin Kouzmanoff and Eliezer Alfonzo hit three-run homers, Will Venable also homered and set a career-high with four hits, and San Diego avoided a four-game sweep at San Francisco. Kevin Correia (6-7) allowed three runs in five-plus innings for his career-best sixth win of the season.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ANGELS 5, YANKEES 4:

John Lackey (4-4) allowed two runs in seven innings and host Los Angeles knocked around CC Sabathia to complete a three-game sweep of New York. Sabathia (8-6) gave up five runs and struck out six in 6 2/3 innings against the Angels, who have won eight of their last nine meetings against the Yankees in Anaheim.

MARINERS 5, RANGERS 3:

Pinch-hitter Chris Shelton and Rob Johnson hit consecutive RBI singles with two out in the seventh inning as host Seattle won three of four from Texas. All-Star Ichiro Suzuki had two hits and drove in a run for the Mariners, raising his batting average to .362 and extending his hitting streak to 11 games.

RED SOX 6, ROYALS 0:

Josh Beckett (11-3) fired a three-hitter, joining teammate Tim Wakefield as the only 11-game winners in the AL, and host Boston won three of four from Kansas City. Beckett (11-3) finished with seven strikeouts and no walks and threw just 94 pitches.

ORIOLES 4, BLUE JAYS 2:

Brad Bergesen took a shutout into the seventh inning and Brian Roberts had two RBIs as host Baltimore won two of three from Toronto. Bergesen (6-3) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

TWINS 13, WHITE SOX 7:

Carlos Gomez drove in a career-high five runs and host Minnesota won two of three from Chicago. Gomez, Brendan Harris and Denard Span homered against Mark Buehrle (9-3), who was 23-13 with a 3.72 ERA lifetime against the Twins and 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA this season.

ATHLETICS 7, RAYS 3:

Orlando Cabrera hit a tiebreaking RBI single in a four-run seventh and Oakland won two of three at host Tampa Bay. Maui's Kurt Suzuki and pinch-hitter Jack Cust each singled in a run and Mark Ellis drove in Landon Powell with a groundout to set up Cabrera's hit off Chad Bradford that made it 4-3.

TIGERS 10, INDIANS 1:

Clete Thomas drove in five runs and Brandon Inge homered twice as host Detroit won two of three from Cleveland. All-Star Justin Verlander (10-4) pitched seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks. He struck out eight.