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Blake Snell was nearly unhittable for the second straight start , and he found a little more of the strike zone, too.

Snell took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Kevin Kiermaier hit a grand slam and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Washington Nationals 11-0 on Monday night.

Wilson Ramos homered twice and rookie Jake Bauers had four hits in the Rays’ fourth straight win.

”I felt like the way we hit allowed me to get in a more aggressive mindset, which changed my pace and tempo, all of that,” said Snell.

Snell (10-4) walked Trea Turner and Bryce Harper to open the game before retiring 18 straight, striking out five straight at one point. Anthony Rendon doubled off the left-field wall on a 3-1 pitch leading off the seventh for the first of Washington’s two hits.

Snell, 6-1 in his last eight starts, struck out 10 while walking four. He left after the seventh inning and 103 pitches.

Snell had pitched seven innings in a 2-1 victory over Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros his last time out, walking a season-high seven. In his last three starts, the 25-year-old left-hander has given up nine hits while walking 15.

”I don’t care if you’re a lefty or righty, he’s not a comfortable at-bat by any means. His stuff is that good,” Kiermaier said. ”He’s a superstar.”

Rendon’s hit spared manager Kevin Cash the unenviable decision of whether to take out the young left-hander as his pitch count approached a career-high 114 , no-hitter or not.

”He’s not getting much past that,” Cash said. ”I’ve already been asked by the front office how we would have handled that, and I don’t have a good answer. But I would have been really concerned for Blake, and (pitching coach) Kyle (Snyder) would have probably choked me if I had gone beyond that.”

Kiermaier’s first home run of the season came during a six-run second inning against starter Gio Gonzalez. It barely made it over the glove of center fielder Michael Taylor.

”I thought I hit it way better than that,” said Kiermaier, who was playing in only his 18th game because of a thumb injury. ”It was a wall-scraper, but over the fence I’ll take `em anyway I can.”

Gonzalez (6-5) threw 43 pitches in the second inning without getting an out. He gave up six runs, three hits and five walks overall, three of them in succession before Kiermaier’s homer.

The one-inning start was the shortest of his career and resulted in the Nationals’ eighth loss in 11 games.

The game marked the return to Tropicana Field of Washington manager Dave Martinez, who spent seven seasons (2008-14) as the Rays bench coach under Joe Maddon.

Gonzalez’s early troubles made it a long night.

”Earlier in the season he was under control, he was using his legs a little bit better,” Martinez said. ”He wasn’t thinking as much. He was attacking the strike zone. Seems like his last couple outings, that’s gone by the wayside.”

COMEBACK CHRIS

Rays RHP Chris Archer (left abdominal strain) had a 40-pitch bullpen session and is scheduled for a three-inning simulated game Thursday. ”No issues , no limitations right now,” Archer said. The opening day starter could make a minor league rehab start next week and be back around the All-Star break.

IN (FOR TWO GAMES) AND OUT

After completing Sunday night’s game after midnight, the Nationals touched down in Tampa at 4 a.m. on Monday and expect to fly out well before sundown after Tuesday’s afternoon game. ”The shortest trip ever,” said Martinez, who got to bed at about 6:30 Monday morning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: RHP Brandon Kintzler (right forearm flexor strain) was reinstated from the disabled list and RHP Jefry Rodriguez was sent back to Triple-A Syracuse. … RHP Jeremy Hellickson (strained right hamstring) will make his first start since June 3 after one more problem-free bullpen session.

Rays: RHP Jake Faria (left oblique strain) threw 30 pitches in his second bullpen session. He hasn’t ruled out returning in late July. … LHP Jonny Venters (strained right hamstring) went on the 10-day disabled and RHP Austin Pruitt was recalled from Triple-A Durham.

UP NEXT

Nationals ace Matt Scherzer (10-3) and Rays RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-3) are the scheduled starters Tuesday in the finale of a two-game series.

—

The Latest on the NFL combine (all times EST):

2:15 p.m.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst says that the team would like to extend the contract of quarterback Aaron Rodgers "sooner rather than later."

Gutekunst was asked about the two-time NFL MVP at the combine. He says that the team realizes it's "not going to be inexpensive."

Rodgers is under contract through the 2019 season following a five-year extension signed in 2013 that boosted his annual average salary to $22 million, making him the highest-paid player in the league back then.

The 34-year old Rodgers has since been passed by other players, including the five-year deal worth a reported $137.5 million that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo agreed to with the San Francisco 49ers.

Gutekunst says that taking care of Rodgers is a high priority, "and I think that should take care of itself at some point."

Gutekunst is in his first year as the Packers GM after replacing Ted Thompson.

1:45 p.m.

Browns coach Hue Jackson hopes to avoid starting a rookie quarterback in 2018.

Cleveland owns the No. 1 overall pick, and is expected to use it to select a quarterback from a talented group that includes Southern Cal's Sam Darnold, UCLA's Josh Rosen, Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield and Wyoming's Josh Allen.

The Browns will use this week's combine to evaluate that foursome and other top players.

Last season, the Browns started rookie DeShone Kizer, who went 0-15 as the Browns became the second team in NFL history to lose all 16 games.

"I would hope not ," Jackson said when asked if he intends to start a rookie QB. "There's going to be other opportunities as we all know. We just go to see how it all fits as we move forward."

The Browns are expected to be active in free agency and it's possible they'll land their starting quarterback there. Jackson refused to comment on Cleveland's intended targets, but one of them is certain to be Cincinnati quarterback AJ McCarron. The Browns were poised to acquire McCarron in a trade last season before the deal was scrapped because the teams failed to file paperwork with the league on time.

1:30 p.m.

The Chicago Bears plan to part ways with quarterback Mike Glennon.

General manager Ryan Pace said the Bears will release him rather than bring him back for a second season after he lost his starting job to rookie Mitchell Trubisky.

Pace, speaking at the NFL combine, said a mechanism in Glennon's contract prevents the Bears from letting him go until the start of the league's calendar year on March 14. The Bears were also releasing linebacker Willie Young.

Glennon left Tampa Bay to sign a three-year contract with the Bears last March and replace Jay Cutler as the starter. He went 1-3 with five interceptions, three lost fumbles and four touchdown passes before Trubisky 鈥?the No. 2 overall draft pick 鈥?took over.

"We were going to be aggressive at that position," Pace said. "We were going to take swings at that position and be aggressive at the most important position, really, in sports. There are multiple factors that go into that. But really, what stands out, as I look back, was Mitch's acceleration, too.

"So, it was kind of twofold. So I can sit back now and be happy that we have a guy that we feel good about , a young quarterback that we want to build around."

A triceps injury limited Young to four games last season. He had 26 sacks in four seasons with Chicago, giving him 32 in eight years with the Bears and Detroit Lions.

1 p.m.

The NFL's competition committee is meeting in Indianapolis this week and the group is looking into ways to redefine the troublesome catch rule. The committee also is entertaining the notion of turning the defensive pass interference call into a 15-yard penalty.

It's currently a spot of foul flag.

At least one head coach is certain the league won't mess with that rule.

Broncos coach Vance Joseph was among the first coaches to step to the podium at the NFL combine and he says the catch rule certainly needs to be addressed.

But Joseph insists there's no way the NFL would follow the NCAA's lead in making defensive pass interference a 15-yard infraction instead of putting the ball at the spot of the foul.

Joseph says pro football fans like seeing points scored and if that rule is changed, there will be "a lot of defensive backs grabbing and pulling guys, so that's not going to change."

11 a.m.

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott says cutting quarterback Tyrod Taylor is not part of the team's current plans, though he won't rule out trading the three-year starter.

McDermott says it's too early to remove any option off the table "other than cutting him at this point," in answering a question as to whether the Bills would consider trading Taylor. "We're in a good position with some options out there, so that'll work itself out," he added at the NFL combine on Wednesday.

Taylor's future in Buffalo remains in question even though he helped lead the Bills to a 9-7 record and clinch the team's first playoff berth since 1999. Taylor has a 23-21 record with the Bills and went 8-6 last season while also being benched for one game in favor of rookie Nathan Peterman.

The Bills considered cutting Taylor last March before the quarterback agreed to restructure his contract by reducing it from a five-year to a two-year term.

Taylor enters the final year of his deal, and is due a $6 million bonus in two weeks. General manager Brandon Beane previously said the Bills could comfortably afford carrying Taylor's contract this year, which will count $18 million against the salary cap.

8:45 a.m.

Jon Gruden is back from the broadcast booth and the highest-paid coach in NFL history.

Unlike his colleague, Matt Patricia didn't balk at leaving Bill Belichick's brigade.

Andy Reid is in the midst of another .