Dylan Carlson hit a two-run homer and an RBI double to power the St. Louis Cardinals past the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 Thursday night.

The Cardinals (28-26) took sole possession of second place in the National League Central, 2 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs.

The Brewers (27-29) lost for the third time in four games to fall 4 1/2 games off the division pace and one game out of the NL's second wild-card slot.

The Cardinals and Brewers will play four more games over the next three days.

Winning pitcher Kwang Hyun Kim (3-0) held the Brewers to one run on five hits in five innings. Andrew Miller, the fifth Cardinals pitcher, closed out the game to earn his fourth save.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hit two singles to reach the 2,000-hit plateau for his career.

Brewers starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (4-1) lasted just 3 2/3 innings before exiting the game with a lower-back injury. He allowed three runs on six hits as his bid for the National League ERA title came to an end, with his rising from 1.77 to 2.11.

The Cardinals took 1-0 lead in the third inning on singles by Kolten Wong, Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt, with the latter driving in Wong. But Burnes retired the next three batters to prevent a big inning.

The Brewers tied the game 1-1 in the fourth on singles by Ryan Braun, Keston Hiura and Tyrone Taylor (RBI). The Cardinals responded with Carlson's two-run homer in their half of the inning to take a 3-1 lead.

The Cardinals pushed their lead to 4-1 in the sixth off of reliever Corey Knebel. Dexter Fowler walked and scored on Carlson's double to the left-center field wall.

The Brewers got the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth inning. Jace Peterson and Daniel Vogelbach hit singles off Alex Reyes, then Eric Sogard hit an RBI single off Miller to cut the lead to 4-2. But Miller struck out Avisail Garcia and Christian Yelich to end the game.

The Cardinals won despite going just 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 men on base.

--Field Level Media