PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard set a Philadelphia Phillies record with his eighth career grand slam — and did it in emphatic fashion.

Howard's slam traveled 475 feet and became only the second ball to reach the third deck in right field. He also added a solo homer to lead the Phillies to a 9-6 victory over the Washington Nationals last night.

Philadelphia trailed 3-2 in the third when Howard connected on his slam to move past Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt. Howard had given the Phillies their first run with a solo shot in the second inning. It was the 19th multi-homer game of Howard's career.

"Yeah, it definitely felt good," Howard said of his grand slam. "I knew it was high enough to go out. When everything comes together, you never know how far it's going to go. I got it pretty square."

Howard also hit the only other homer to reach the third deck in the ballpark's five-year history off the Yankees' Mike Mussina on June 20, 2006.

"He's just as strong as anyone," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, when asked to compare Howard to the all-time sluggers. "I've seen him hit some long ones."

Cole Hamels (3-2) gave up six runs and eight hits in six innings for the win. He struck out seven in his worst start this season since allowing seven against Colorado to open the season.

"I pitched pretty bad and made a lot of mistakes," Hamels said. "They're a good hitting team and you can't make mistakes and can't take them lightly."

Jimmy Rollins and Maui's Shane Victorino also had a pair of hits for the Phillies, who improved to 9-2 against the Nationals this season while dealing Washington its fifth straight loss.

"It's tough losing so much, but we're not going to quit," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "We'll come back tomorrow and play hard."

Marlins 7, Mets 3: Jeremy Hermida homered and drove in four runs, Josh Johnson (4-1) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings and Florida beat New York, which rested starters David Wright, Gary Sheffield and Luis Castillo.

Cubs 7, Dodgers 0: Ryan Dempster (4-3) allowed just three hits over seven innings, Milton Bradley had three hits and Reed Johnson homered for host Chicago, which has won four of five since losing a season-worst eight straight games.

Diamondbacks 3, Braves 2: Mark Reynolds led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a ground-rule double off Jeff Bennett (2-2), moved to third on Miguel Montero's sacrifice bunt and scored on Eric Byrnes single for Arizona.

Pirates 7, Astros 4: Jeff Karstens (2-2) gave up two runs and two hits in seven innings, and Eric Hinske went 3 for 3 as host Pittsburgh roughed up Wandy Rodriguez (5-4) for five runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings to beat Houston.

Brewers 9, Reds 5: Mike Cameron hit a go-ahead two-run homer in a six-run bottom of the fifth inning to help Milwaukee beat Cincinnati, which was without catcher Joey Votto. Votto was placed on the 15-day DL with stress-related issues believed to be linked to an inner-ear infection.

Rockies 8, Padres 7: Garrett Atkins singled home the tying run, then scored from first base on Brad Hawpe's bloop single to center, which a diving Tony Gwynn Jr. missed, to cap a two-out, two-run bottom of the ninth for Colorado.

Cardinals 6, Giants 2: Albert Pujols burst out of his power slump with two homers, and Chris Duncan drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out double in a three-run top of the seventh inning as St. Louis held off San Francisco.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Yankees 10, Indians 5: CC Sabathia (5-3) didn't allow a hit until the fifth, but gave up three runs on five hits before leaving after seven innings in his first game in Cleveland since being traded, and Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher hit homers to lead New York.

Rays 5, Twins 2: David Price (1-0), who started the season at Triple-A Durham and was recalled Monday, gave up one run and five hits while striking out 11, and Evan Longoria drove in his 55th run of the season to lift host Tampa Bay.

Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 3: Alex Rios had four hits, including an RBI single to break a 3-all tie, and scored on a double by Vernon Well in the bottom of the seventh inning as Toronto beat Boston for its second straight victory after a nine-game losing streak.

White Sox 5, Royals 3: Clete Thomas hit two solo home runs, including a seventh-inning shot that broke a 3-all tie, as Detroit ended Baltimore's five-game winning streak.

Wite Sox 5, Royals 3: Jim Thome drove in two runs, Scott Podsednik broke a 3-all tie in the top of the ninth with an RBI single and Alexei Ramirez followed with a run-scoring single to lead Chicago past Kansas City, which lost for the 15th time in 20 games.

Rangers 14, Athletics 1: Brandon McCarthy (5-2) gave up a run — an RBI double in the first by Maui's Kurt Suzuki — and three hits over six innings, Hank Blalock and Marlon Byrd hit back-to-back homers, and host Texas routed Oakland.

Mariners 4, Angels 3: Jose Lopez hit a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth inning off closer Brian Fuentes and Yuniesky Betancourt delivered the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th, leading visiting Seattle over Los Angeles.