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. Avisail Garcia went 3-for-4 and drove in the final runs with a two-run blast to center in the eighth off Diamondbacks catcher John Ryan Murphy, making his second appearance of the season on the mound.

Chaz Roe pitched the seventh for Tampa Bay and Casey Sadler threw the final two innings, giving up an unearned run in the ninth on third baseman Andrew Velazquez's fielding error that allowed Blake Swihart, who hit a one-out single, to score from second. The Rays finished with a two-hitter.

Tampa Bay scored a run in the first -- improving its first-inning scoring advantage to 31-11 for the season -- and added five in the second against Merrill Kelly (3-3).

Daniel Robertson took a 3-2 pitch inside with the bases loaded to drive in the first run of the second. One batter later, Pham followed with his fifth home run of the season and the first grand slam of his career, a blast to center field that traveled an estimated 443 feet to make the score 6-0.

The Rays increased the lead to 7-0 in the third inning with Garcia's single driving in Yandy Diaz, who led off with a double.

Kelly needed 94 pitches to get through four innings. He gave up seven hits and seven runs, striking out two and walking three.

Zack Godley, demoted to the bullpen after his last start, surrendered three runs in three innings.

--Field Level Media