Ozuna homers, Cards beat Nationals for 8th straight win

ST. LOUIS » Marcell Ozuna homered and Austin Gomber tossed six shutout innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

St. Louis has won a season-high eight straight. The Cardinals, who are 18-9 since the All-Star break, captured their sixth successive series after taking the first three of the fourgame set.

Daniel Murphy homered in the ninth for Washington, which has lost four in a row and seven of nine to fall below .500 and nine games behind the first-place Braves in the NL East.

St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter extended his on-base streak to 33 games with a walk in the fifth. It’s the longest current streak in the majors. Carpenter left the game in the seventh after he was hit on the hand by a pitch from Matt Grace, but X-rays were negative.

MARINERS 2, ATHLETICS 0 » Lighthitting Dee Gordon homered off Yusmeiro Petit in the 12th inning to break a scoreless tie and Seattle beat Oakland to avoid a three-game sweep.

CUBS 8, BREWERS 4 » Anthony Rizzo homered, drove in three runs and stole two bases in his return to the cleanup spot, and Chicago beat Milwaukee to restore a three-game lead in the NL Central.

The Brewers also lost left fielder Ryan Braun and catcher Manny Pina to injuries. Braun departed with tightness inhis rib cage, and Pina was pulled after he collided with Javier Baez while he was diving back to second in the seventh.

METS 16, ORIOLES 5 » Kevin Plawecki hit his first career grand slam during a nine-run sixth inning, Brandon Nimmo went 5 for 5 and New York pounded Baltimore.

RAYS 6, YANKEES 1 » Mallex Smith hit a two-run homer, rookie Brandon Lowe got his first two major league hits and Tampa Bay beat New York.

ASTROS 12, ROCKIES 1 » Evan Gattis and Tyler White hit two homers each, Yuli Gurriel added a two-run shot and Houston routed Colorado to snap a five-game skid. BLUE JAYS 6, ROYALS 5 » Curtis Granderson hit a grand slam, Marco Estrada pitched effectively into the seventh inning and Toronto beat Kansas City.

TWINS 6, PIRATES 4 » Logan Forsythe had three RBIs, the Minnesota bullpen tossed 5. 1 shutout innings and the Twins beat Pittsburgh.

WHITE SOX 6, TIGERS 5 » Jose Abreu and Matt Davidson each hit two-run home runs to lift Chicago.

INDIANS 4, REDS 3 » Melky Cabrera lofted a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning, and Cleveland beat Cincinnati.