Snell bounces back in a big way for Rays

Blake Snell retired the first 17 batters, Tommy Pham hit a grand slam and the Tampa Bay Rays cruised past the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks 12-1 on Monday night.

Snell (3-3) was perfect through 5 2/3 innings before Ildemaro Vargas hit a sharp single between third base and shortstop. The left-hander hit the next batter, Tim Locastro, before getting Ketel Marte to ground out to end the inning.

Snell struck out nine and walked none in six innings, leaving with a 7-0 lead. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner had lost his previous two starts, lasting a total of 6 1/3 innings, after coming off the 10-day injured list because of a broken toe in his right foot.

Pham’s slam in the second inning staked Snell to a 6-0 lead. YANKEES POWER PAST MARINERS >> Luke Voit hit one of three Yankees homers off Felix Hernandez as New York opened a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners with a 7-3 win at Yankee Stadium.

Voit joined Gary Sanchez as the second Yankee to reach double digits in homers when he connected four pitches into the game to make it 2-0.

Brett Gardner hit a solo shot leading off the second inning. Rookie shortstop Thairo Estrada hit his first career homer two batters later.

The homers helped the Yankees become the fourth American League team get their 20th win as they improved to 14-5 in their last 19 contests. CARDINALS END SKID >> Yadier Molina went 3 for 4 with a tworun homer and Miles Mikolas pitched seven shutout innings as the St. Louis Cardinals halted a four-game losing streak a 6-0 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.

Matt Carpenter and Paul DeJong also slugged homers for St. Louis, which improved to 13-4 at home.