Wong grand slam lifts Cards

St. Louis - Rodriguez marks 40th birthday with homer as Yankees rout Texas

St. Louis' Kolten Wong hit a grand slam, powering the Cardinals to a 4-1 win over Cincinnati on Monday, extending their lead in the National League Central division.
The Cardinals went 6-1/2 games clear of idle Pittsburgh in the NL Central, while regional rivals Kansas City boosted its lead in the American League equivalent with a win against slumping Cleveland.
The New York Yankees also extended a big division lead as Alex Rodriguez marked his 40th birthday in style against Texas, while Tampa Bay downed Detroit.
Wong connected on a full-count fastball from Reds rookie Raisel Iglesias (1-3) with two outs in the fourth, putting St. Louis ahead 4-1. Wong's second career grand slam easily cleared the right- field wall, landing in the home bullpen.
That was more than enough for victory thanks to a strong pitching performance by Lance Lynn (8-5) who gave up one run in seven innings and steered St. Louis to a sixth win from seven games.
Kansas City opened a 10-game road trip with a 9-4 win at Cleveland, with Eric Hosmer driving in four runs.
Hosmer connected for a three-run homer in the first inning as the Royals rolled to their AL-leading 60th win, opening an eight-game break atop the AL Central.
Kendrys Morales added three RBIs for Kansas City, which will welcome newly acquired pitching ace Johnny Cueto on Tuesday.
The Indians have dropped five straight.
The Yankees won 6-2 at Texas, with Alex Rodriguez marking his 40th birthday with a homer.
Rodriguez's solo drive in the sixth made him only the fourth player in major league history to homer both as a teenager and in his 40s, according to STATS, joining Ty Cobb, Rusty Staub and Gary Sheffield.
It was Rodriguez's 24th homer this season and 678th of his career, and it came after he went deep three times against Minnesota, in his previous game.
Tampa Bay's Curt Casali homered twice to lead the Rays to a 5-2 victory over Detroit.
Casali's first homer came on the first pitch of the third inning and he added a towering two-run homer in the eighth. He came into the game with only three homers for the season.
Nathan Karns (6-5) gave up one run in six-plus innings, winning six days after a scoreless victory in his previous start.
San Francisco extended its winning run to six games with a 4-2 win against Milwaukee, with Brandon Crawford hitting a two-run homer.
Giants rookie Chris Heston (11-5) allowed two runs over seven innings to win his fifth consecutive decision and help move San Francisco within half a game of the NL West lead.
Milwaukee outfielder Carlos Gomez was ejected in the ninth after tossing his helmet following a replay reversal of what had been a stolen base. Brewers manager Craig Counsell came out to argue and also got tossed out of the game; his first career ejection as a player or manager.
Baltimore's Matt Wieters homered leading off the 11th inning, sending the Orioles over the Braves 2-1.
Chicago's Kris Bryant came up with a dramatic walk-off winner, hitting a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Cubs to a 9-8 win against Colorado.
Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt hit his 22nd homer of the season in the first inning and scored the go-ahead run in the 10th on Jake Lamb's sacrifice fly as Arizona beat Seattle 4-3. - AP