ST. LOUIS — 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.

"I'm never happy when I leave the game," Hudson said. "I looked up and I had no idea I was near 97 pitches. VerHagen came in and made some great pitches and got out of it. We won the game. That's what we need."

Milwaukee had loaded the bases in the third before McCutchen grounded into an inning-ending double play.

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.

Brandon Woodruff (5-3) allowed two runs and two hits, then was removed while warming up for the fifth inning because of right ankle inflammation.

"He had some pain in his ankle on each pitch," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "I'm not ruling him out for his next start. He obviously was throwing the ball really well, but there was significant pain in each pitch."

Woodruff entered the game at 5-2 with a 4.76 ERA in eight starts.

On Monday, Milwaukee placed right-hander Freddy Peralta on the injured list with a right shoulder strain that is expected to keep him out for a significant period of time.

Goldschmidt put the Cardinals ahead in the third with his ninth homer, a two-run drive. He has reached base in 32 straight games, the longest streak by a major league hitter this season.

"It's impressive," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "He's hyper-focused on just executing his plan. That's been the fun part to watch."

Harrison Bader scored on the 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.

"That's awesome," Marmol said. "You come off the bench ready to hit like that. He got a good pitch where he wanted it, drove it to the right-center gap. That was a big part of that game."

From the infirmary

Brewers: Outfielder Hunter Renfroe (right hamstring strain) jogged on the field pregame for the first time since Monday. Manager Craig Counsell said it was too soon to put a timetable on Renfroe’s return.

Cardinals: Outfielder Tyler O’Neill (right shoulder impingement) lifted weights and threw prior to the game. He could go out on a minor league rehab assignment early next week.

Up next

Right-hander Adrian Houser (3-4, 2.98 ERA) starts for Milwaukee on Saturday. He is 4-3 with a 2.25 ERA in nine starts and three relief appearances against the Cardinals. Left-hander Matthew Liberatore (0-0, 7.71) makes his second career start for St. Louis after allowing four runs in 4⅔ innings in his major league debut May 21 in Pittsburgh.