Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Nola tossed two-hit ball over seven shutout innings and Nick Castellanos hit a two-run homer Wednesday to send the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-0 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Phillies completed the three-game sweep of the NL Central leaders and improved to 44-19 overall before heading to London for a weekend set against the New York Mets.

Nola (8-2) struck out five, walked none and has almost seemed like a bargain this season for the NL East leaders after signing a $172 million, seven-year contract in the offseason.

With a runner at third in the fifth, Castellanos hit a 90 mph change-up into the left-center seats for his eighth homer of the year and a 2-0 lead.

“He’s not chasing much,” Manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s using the entire field.”

CARDINALS 4, ASTROS 2: Nolan Arenado homered, Alec Burleson added an RBI double to back a solid start by Miles Mikolas and St. Louis won at Houston.

Burleson’s hit made it 3-0 in the fifth inning and Arenado added a run in the sixth after the Astros got within one in the fifth.

Mikolas (4-6) allowed five hits and two runs in six innings for the win. Ryan Helsley pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save.

Yainer Diaz homered for a third straight game and Trey Cabbage hit his first home run of the season for the Astros.

REDS 12, ROCKIES 7: Jonathan India hit his fourth career grand slam to cap a two-out, six-run rally in the ninth inning, and Cincinnati won at Denver to sweep the three-game series.

Spencer Steer began the comeback with a two-run homer off Jalen Beeks (2-3), who hit TJ Friedl with a pitch leading off the ninth. After two singles and a walk loaded the bases, India blasted a pitch from Angel Chivilli for his second slam this season.

Friedl and Jeimer Candelario also went deep, Elly De La Cruz had three hits and Fernando Cruz (3-5) pitched an inning in relief for Cincinnati, which has won four straight.

Elias Díaz hit a go-ahead homer in the fifth to put Colorado ahead 5-4. He added a run-scoring single and Brendan Rodgers had a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Díaz and Rodgers had three RBI each for the Rockies.

GIANTS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3: Wilmer Flores’ grand slam highlighted a six-run outburst in the third inning and San Francisco won at Phoenix to snap a six-game losing streak.

Heliot Ramos added a two-run homer in the third off Jordan Montgomery (3-4), whose ERA rose to 6.80 in his ninth start since signing with the Diamondbacks late in spring training.

Ramos reached base six times with two hits and four walks. Flores, who had one home run in 50 games entering Wednesday, added a sacrifice fly in the ninth for his fifth RBI, and Jorge Soler homered in the eighth off Brandon Hughes as the Giants moved into third place in the NL West, a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks.

Montgomery threw 61 pitches, 33 strikes, in two-plus innings. He faced seven batters in the third and didn’t record an out, allowing six earned runs and seven hits. He walked three and struck out one. Montgomery and reliever Logan Allen combined to throw 53 pitches in the third.

METS 9, NATIONALS 1: Luis Torrens hit two homers in a game for the second time in his career and Francisco Lindor added a solo shot as New York won at Washington to complete a three-game sweep.

The Mets batted around in the sixth inning, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring six times on seven hits, including two home runs and two doubles. They have won five of their last seven.

Torrens launched his first homer of the season, a 398-foot shot to right-center field off Nationals starter Patrick Corbin (1-7) in the third to put the Mets in the lead, 1-0. It was Torrens’ first homer since Oct. 5, 2022, with the Mariners against Detroit.

His second home run came in the sixth inning on a 1-2 Corbin sinker that traveled 404 feet. Lindor followed with 428-foot homer, his 10th of the season. It was the second time the Mets hit back-to-back home runs since May 24.

NOTES

BREWERS: Rookie left-hander Robert Gasser was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left flexor strain, and left-hander Aaron Ashby and right-hander Tobias Myers were recalled from Triple-A Nashville.

The Brewers also optioned right-hander Janson Junk to Nashville.

ASTROS: Third baseman Alex Bregman was scratched from the game against St. Louis because of a sore left hand after being hit by a pitch Tuesday night.

Bregman remained in the game Tuesday night after being plunked in the hand in the first inning and finished 1 for 3. X-rays were negative. He originally was in the lineup batting second and playing third base before being scratched about 1:15 before the first pitch.