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ST. LOUIS -- Two days after losing his childhood friend, Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, in a boating accident, Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz hit the first grand slam of his career Tuesday in his teams crucial 12-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds.Its amazing, you know, Diaz said. To come back and hit that grand slam, I cant explain that. Im very grateful.After getting the ritual splash of water to the face from Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez, Diaz emerged to acknowledge a curtain call from the relatively small crowd -- announced as 34,286 -- at Busch Stadium that nonetheless was roaring its approval. Diaz doffed his batting helmet, then jabbed it at the sky and looked up at the stars.Every time I put on a uniform, I want to think of him and the way he played baseball. He gave everything every day, Diaz said. I think thats his legacy for every MLB player, especially for the Cuban players. He was living the American dream. He made it, so every time I come here to this clubhouse and put on the uniform, I want to think of him.The Cardinals trail the New York Mets by 1? games for the first wild card and the Giants by one game for the second.?Diaz, 25, grew up just a few houses down from Fernandez in Santa Clara, Cuba. Fernandez defected to the United States when he was 15, eight years before Diaz left the island in 2014.Diaz spent Monday back in Florida with his family and Fernandezs mother and grandmother. Fernandez told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2015 that Diazs father, Rigoberto, was the reason he became a baseball player.The Cardinals were hesitant to use Diaz in the preceding games, in part due to his grief. He was due to pinch hit in Sunday nights game in Chicago but never got the chance because Aroldis Chapman struck out Jose Martinez?and stranded?Diaz in the on-deck circle as the game ended.Tuesdays blast off Reds right-hander Robert Stephenson came in Diazs second at-bat since Fernandezs death. Diaz said he feels he can best honor Fernandez by playing the game with passion and joy and competing as fiercely as Fernandez did.Even now, I cant believe it, Diaz said.Stephenson was aware of Diazs relationship with Fernandez.I thought that was real unfortunate timing for me, Stephenson said. But really, a special moment for him.Watching him cross the plate and watching his reaction as he [shook hands] with the guys, [it] really hit me on how much that meant to him, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. You can never understand what each persons going through when they suffer a loss like that. The show goes on, and so does life. But its a tough thing for anyone to go through.Diaz and Cardinals catcher Brayan Pena, a fellow Cuban, taped a No. 16 Fernandez jersey to the Cardinals dugout wall before the game. Pena predicted Diaz would hit a home run in Tuesdays game. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright compared it to Mondays home run by Marlins leadoff batter Dee Gordon, who cried after going deep against Bartolo Colon in the teams first game since Fernandezs death.I felt some serious goose bumps when he hit that, you know, Wainwright said. I almost got choked up. I know he was and we were all excited for him, and he wanted to make some good swings for Jose, Im sure. I dont know if theres a spot all year we needed that more than we did tonight.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai acknowledged that his side failed to match Bangladeshs experience during the 141-run defeat in the series-deciding third ODI in Mirpur on Saturday.Bangladesh is a Full Member team and has a lot of experience, Stanikzai said. Our team played very well and gave them a tough time in the first two matches. They had experience and we had inexperience. We have learnt lot of things from these matches.Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who had stated after the second match that Bangladesh were lucky to be in contention in the series, said his team had summed up the opposition well in the decider. In the first match, Afghanistan had run Bangladesh close, losing by seven runs, before beating the hosts in a tense chase in the second game.The more matches you play, the better you can assess the situation. Afghanistan played better than us in the first two games and we played better than them in this game, he said.The 2-1 win over Afghanistan was Bangladeshs sixth consecutive bilateral ODI series victory at home, equalling Indias record for the longest consecutive bilateral ODI series streak at home (excluding their 2011 World Cup win), spanning from 2009 to 2011. Among teams from the subcontinent, only Pakistan (7) have won more.Had the crunch match against Afghanistan gone the other way, it would have put Bangladesh under pressure for the upcoming ODI series against England.Instead Tamim Iqbal, who struck a run-a-ball 118, found clarity when Stanikzai dropped him on 1 in the third over, the first of numerous fielding lapses from Afghanistan. Tamim attacked the bowlers, starting with Mirwais Ashraf who had bothered him in the first two games. By the time he was dismissed, he had brought up his seventh ton and achieved the record for the most ODI centuries by a Bangladesh batsman.Tamim knew that Mohammad Nabi and RRashid Khan were the most threatening bowlers, so he went after Samiullah Shenwari and Rahmat Shah.dddddddddddd He was severe on anything loose, and later said that the reprieve sharpened his focus.I never thought that he [Stanikzai] would drop that catch, he said. I was trying to tell myself understand that I will do well in this innings. I knew that I was on 1 and that I had to work harder and longer to get a big score. I was trying to start afresh and just play cricketing shots.When they came out to bat, Afghanistan did not break the chase down into partnerships, which resulted in a collapse that left them at 89 for 7 in the 26th over.Mohammad Shahzad, one of the sides most attacking batsman, was not given any width to use his arms. Instead, Mashrafes disciplined line kept making him play in the first over before the Bangladesh captain got one to come back sharply at the start of the third over. Mashrafe, having injured his ankle after a fall, bowled off a short run-up later on, and ensured Afghanistan played a lot of spin before they could settle at the crease. Nawroz Mangal and Rahmat scored 33 and 36 respectively but failed to carry on. Eventually, Afghanistans middle order fell to shots they probably would not have played if the target was lower or they were batting first.Afghanistan will, in the course of time, learn that batting normally can also bring success in a high-pressure match like the series decider. They will also have to learn how to recover quickly from mistakes like Stanikzais that led to the century stand. The split-second indecisions can go away through clarity and experience. Just ask Tamim, who finished with a seventh ODI hundred, the Player-of-the-Match and Player-of-the-Series awards. 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