FOWLER’S SLAM POWERS CARDINALS TO SIXTH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY
LOUIS» Dexter Fowler hit a grand slam ST. and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the Cardinals to an 8-6 victory over the Royals on Thursday night.
St. Louis tied a season high with its sixth straight win. Kansas City has lost four in a row and six of seven.
St. Louis climbed within one game of the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
Fowler broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning with his 15th homer of the season. He ripped the first pitch from Neftali Feliz 404 feet for his third career slam.
Lorenzo Cain had four hits for the Royals, who lost all four games in the fourgame, home-and-home set.
THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Brian Goodwin had two hits, including a home run leading off the eighth inning, and the Nationals rallied past the Marlins 3-2. Goodwin broke a 2-2 tie when he connected on a 1-0 fastball from Junichi Tazawa (1-2) for his 13th homer of the season and second RBI of the night. … New York’s Jacob deGrom pitched brilliantly until leaving in the seventh inning because of a contusion on his right triceps after being hit on a line drive by Nick Williams, and the Mets homered four times in a 10-0 rout of the Phillies. DeGrom (13-5) gave up four hits in 6M scoreless innings, with nine strikeouts and no walks. He improved to 9-2 with a 1.82 ERA in his last 11 starts, while upping his career mark against Philadelphia to 6-0 with a 2.10 ERA in 10 starts. The 29-year-old right-hander initially smiled when manager Terry Collins came out to check on his star pitcher after Williams’ hard shot drilled deGrom on the back of his right arm just above the elbow. But deGrom never threw a warm-up pitch nor appeared to protest Collins’ decision to take him out. The Mets got good news when X-rays were negative. … Corey Dickerson’s three-run homer in the eighth inning carried the Rays to a 4-1 win over the Indians. Dickerson’s two-out blast off Nick Goody (1-2), his 22nd, came after Adeiny Hechavarria singled and Jesus Sucre was hit by a pitch. Tommy Hunter (2-2) pitched 1M scoreless innings in relief of Blake Snell to get the win. … Marco Estrada and two relievers combined on a sixhitter, Jose Bautista hit a solo home run and the Blue Jays beat the Yankees 4-0. Estrada (5-7) pitched seven innings to win for the first time in 13 starts. The righthander came in 0-5 with a 7.39 ERA since beating Texas on May 27. … Scooter Gennett hit a grand slam in the seventh inning, ending left-hander Brad Hand’s long scoreless streak and rallying the Reds toa 10-3 victory over the Padres. … Rookie Josh Bell hit his 20th home run and drove in three runs, propelling the Pirates toa 7-5 victory over the Tigers. Gerrit Cole (10-8) allowed six hits and three earned runs in eight innings, his longest outing of the season. He improved to 3-1 since the break. Felipe Rivero closed for his 11th save. … Yoan Moncada singled to right center in the 11th inning bringing in Leury Garcia as the White Sox beat the Astros 3-2. … Byron Buxton and Joe Mauer each had three singles and the Twins beat the Brewers for the fourth consecutive game, 7-2. The Twins, who have won five straight and are 7-3 in August, had 12 hits — 11 singles and a double — to sweep a home-and-home, four-game set with Milwaukee. The Brewers are 7-17 since July 16 and fell into third place in the NL Central with the loss.