Cardinals beat Nationals behind grand slame, four other homers.

CARDINALS 11, NATIONALS 8

WASHINGTON — Yadier Molina hit a grand slam, Marcell Ozuna homered twice and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 11-8 on Tuesday night.

Molina provided a cushion for St. Louis via his sixth career slam, which made it 11-5 with two outs in the ninth.

The Cardinals, who occupy the second NL wild card spot, hit five homers overall as they stopped a three-game skid.

Right fielder Yairo Munoz robbed Ryan Zimmerman of a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, reaching over the fence and pulling it back into the field of play for a two-run double.

Tyson Ross (8-9) pitched 1 /3 innings for the win and Jordan Hicks got the final out for his sixth save in 11 chances.

PIRATES 7, REDS 3

Starling Marte hit a tworun homer, Gregory Polanco had a two-run double and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds. Joe Musgrove (6-8) took a shutout into the seventh inning for the Pirates, who improved to 12-4 against the Reds this season. Scooter Gennett homered twice for Cincinnati. Marte’s homer in the fourth scored Pablo Reyes, who reached on his first major league hit. Polanco drove in Marte and Adam Frazier with a double in the third.

PHILLIES 9, MARLINS 4

Carlos Santana homered to start a four-run first inning and the Philadelphia Phillies snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Miami. Jake Arrieta (10-9) struck out a season-high 11 and earned his first win since July 31. He allowed four runs in 71/3 innings and improved to 5-1 in eight career starts against the Marlins. The Phillies, struggling to stay in playoff contention, began the night four games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. They have a chance to win a series for the first time in a month today.

AMERICAN LEAGUE RAYS 4, BLUE JAYS 0

Ryne Stanek became the first rookie pitcher in 75 years to start consecutive games and combined with six relievers on a three-hitter in Tampa Bay’s victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, which extended the Rays’

winning streak to four. A night after throwing one inning and 16 pitches, Stanek allowed Devon Travis’ leadoff double and hit Kendrys Morales with a pitch with one out. Stanek escaped a 10-pitch first inning when Randal Grichuk struck out as Morales was caught stealing second.

INDIANS 9, ROYALS 3 Mike Clevinger struck out 10, Francisco Lindor hit another leadoff homer and the Cleveland Indians moved closer to their third straight AL Central title with a win over the Kansas City Royals. The Indians ended a three-game losing streak and reduced their magic number for clinching another division title to 11. Not only did the Royals have their season-high winning streak stopped at six, but they lost starting pitcher Danny Duffy and rookie right fielder Brett Phillips to injuries. Staked to a 6-0 lead after two innings, Clevinger (11-7) allowed just three hits in six innings and remained unbeaten in his last seven starts.

ASTROS 5, TWINS 2 Alex Bregman hit three doubles and Yuli Gurriel homered for the second game in a row, leading Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros over the Minnesota Twins for their fourth straight win. Verlander (14-9) yielded one run and three hits while fanning eight over seven innings. Jorge Polanco homered off reliever Chris Devenski to begin the ninth. After Robbie Grossman walked, Roberto Osuna took over and gave up a single to Tyler Austin with one out. Gurriel then caught Max Kepler’s liner and stepped on first to complete the double play and give Osuna his 13th save. The Astros got to Trevor May (3-1) immediately when George Springer hit a leadoff single and scored on a one-out double by Bregman.

RANGERS 4, ANGELS 2

Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus each hit a solo homer in the fourth inning to put the Texas Rangers ahead to stay in a victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Andrus hit the first pitch of the fourth against Andrew Heaney (8-9) to tie the game at 1. Two batters later, Beltre went deep for the ninth time this season and 471st time in his career. He has 3,147 career hits, the most among active players, after that homer and a single in the eighth. Shohei Ohtani hit his 16th homer for the Angels, a leadoff shot in the sixth that chased Texas starter Mike Minor (11-7). It was Ohtani’s first major league homer off a left-handed pitcher. Minor struck out seven with one walk and one hit batter while allowing two runs and three hits.

INTERLEAGUE RED SOX 5, BRAVES 1

Steve Pearce had three hits and three RBIs, Rick Porcello allowed two hits in five innings, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves for their second straight win in a matchup of division leaders. Porcello (16-7) gave up one run, struck out five and walked one, improving to 10-3 on the road this year. He had been 0-2 in his previous three starts overall since an Aug. 14 win at Philadelphia. Atlanta pitchers walked nine, including five by starter Sean Newcomb (11-8), who matched his season high.