ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer and drove in three, Dakota Hudson threw seven strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
Nick Wittgren earned his first save by getting the last out of the game when he retired pinch-hitter Robinson Canó on a fly ball with the bases loaded.
The Cardinals have won five of six games. The Padres have lost four of five.
Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 23 games and reached safely for a career-best 37th consecutive game. Goldschmidt went 1 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored. He is hitting .353 this season.
Hudson (4-2) gave up a run in the first inning but shut out the Padres over the next six innings. He allowed one run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
Yu Darvish (4-3) pitched 7 2/3 innings, giving up five runs and seven hits.
Arenado’s 10th home run came after Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak with a one-out single in the sixth. Arenado sent an 0-1 fastball over the left-field fence, giving St. Louis a 3-1 advantage.
Goldschmidt’s career high hit streak is 26, from Sept. 10, 2013 to April 4, 2014 with Arizona.
In the eighth, Arendado chased Darvish with a run-scoring single with two outs. He scored on a double by Juan Yepez, who drove in two runs.
Yepez' first RBI made it a 1-1 tie in the fourth. His sacrifice fly scored Goldschmidt, who drew his second walk to begin the inning. He went to third with aggressive baserunning on a single by Arenado. Goldschmidt’s streak of reaching base safely since April 22 is the longest streak in MLB this season.
San Diego scored a run in the first on an RBI single by Manny Machado. Jurickson Profar led off the game with a double.
The Padres' second run came in the ninth on a one-out homer by St. Louis native and former Cardinals slugger Luke Voit off reliever Kodi Whitley. With two outs, Whitley gave up a single and then walked to two, loading the bases for Wittgren.
