Paul Goldschmidt homered to extend his hitting streak to 18 games and lead the St.Louis Cardinals over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 Friday night.

Dakota Hudson was pulled after 4 2/3 innings with the bases loaded in the fifth, after allowing five hits and four walks. Drew VerHagen (2-0) got Andrew McCutchen to ground into a forceout that ended the fifth.

Génesis Cabrera allowed one hit over two innings, Kodi Whitley gave up Keston Hiura’s two-run homer in the ninth and Ryan Helsley struck out Mike Brosseau and retired Kolten Wong on a groundout for his third save, ending Milwaukee’s three-game winning streak.

Helsley has not allowed an earned run in 14 appearances this season.

Harrison Bader scored on Goldschmidt’s home run after stealing second base. He stole two bases, leads the National League with 13 and has been successful on 16 in a row since last Sept. 8 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa had an RBI triple in the seventh and scored when Lars Nootbaar grounded into a forceout.

UP NEXT
Game three of the series is today.
RHP Adrian Houser (3-4, 2.98) starts for Milwaukee on Saturday. He is 4-3 with a 2.25 ERA in nine starts and three relief appearances against the Cardinals. LHP Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 7.71) makes his second career start for St. Louis after allowing four runs in 4 2/3 innings in his major league debut May 21 in Pittsburgh. Game time is 1:15 at Busch Stadium.