PHILADELPHIA -- Jeremy Hellickson knew how long it had been since a Philadelphia Phillies starter completed seven innings.

"I've heard it and read it," Hellickson said.

The veteran right-hander went out and stopped it.

Cesar Hernandez went 3-for-4 with a home run, Hellickson gave Philadelphia seven strong innings and the Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night.

Hellickson (10-7), the lone veteran arm in Philadelphia's rotation, became the first Phillies starter to complete seven innings since July 26 -- a span of 21 games.

The right-hander, who was making his first start since leaving his last outing Aug. 10 with back tightness, allowed two runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.

"It's nothing we think about, we've had a few games where we've been cruising and something happens," Hellickson said of the streak. "But it was good to save the bullpen a little tonight."

"Just what the doctor ordered," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "You've got a guy like Hellickson that can give you the seven innings that we needed. He probably could've given us another inning, but we've got a couple of good guys in the bullpen to finish it off."

St. Louis scored both runs on a homer by Jeremy Hazelbaker to make it 2-2 in the third inning.

Cardinals rookie Luke Weaver (0-1) endured a rough first inning in his second career start as Hernandez led off with a home run -- his fourth of the season -- to right field. After recording two outs, Weaver yielded a double to Maikel Franco off the glove of a diving Hazelbaker and Cameron Rupp followed with a soft liner to left field for an RBI single.

Weaver, who singled ahead of Hazelbaker's home run, settled in during the next three innings before the Phillies mustered the go-ahead run in the fifth.

Hernandez led off the frame with a double. Two outs later with Hernandez at third base, Franco smashed a single to left field.

"I thought there were some positives, obviously that fifth inning, that's got to be executed," Weaver said. "I got a little too much plate and that's a really good hitter out there. He did his job; I didn't do mine."

Weaver was finished after five innings and 96 pitches. The 22-year-old allowed three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts.

"If there's one thing I think he's doing, he might be giving hitters at this level too much credit," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He's a guy that's been able to work in the zone and the bottom of the zone and trust his stuff and not feel like he has to be perfect. It looks like he's trying to be perfect here. That's something we can tell him, but it's something that he'll have to learn."

Aaron Altherr extended Philadelphia's lead to 4-2 with a leadoff home run in the sixth inning off reliever Jonathan Broxton.

Hector Neris allowed a hit and struck out three in the eighth before Jeanmar Gomez worked the ninth to earn his 33rd save.

Gomez allowed a one-out single to Jhonny Peralta before getting Jedd Gyorko to ground into a game-ending double play. Gyorko hit a game-tying two-run homer off Gomez on Friday in the ninth inning of St. Louis' 4-3 victory in 11 innings.

"It was deja vu in that ninth inning," Mackanin said. "But it turned out a little differently."

NOTES: St. Louis on Friday became the first National League team and fifth in major league history to hit two or more home runs in nine straight games. ... Philadelphia 2B Cesar Hernandez (right foot), the team's best hitter since July 1, returned to the leadoff spot after being out of the starting lineup two consecutive games after fouling a ball off his foot. ... Cardinals 1B Brandon Moss was a late scratch Friday night with flu-like symptoms, but the versatile slugger returned to the starting lineup Saturday and was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. ... The series concludes Sunday afternoon with St. Louis RHP Mike Leake (8-9, 4.78 ERA) facing off with RHP Vince Velasquez (8-5, 4.14) in the finale. ... Both teams are off Monday.