MILWAUKEE (Interstat) — Jacob Misiorowski struck out a dozen batters over seven dominant innings and Christian Yelich slugged a two-run homer in the first inning as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 on Monday afternoon at American Family Field.

The Brewers improved to 31-20, while the Cardinals dropped to 29-23 in the opener of a three-game series. The game lasted 2 hours, 29 minutes before an announced crowd of 35,695.

Misiorowski allowed only two hits and one earned run, walking one and fanning 12 to improve to 5-2. The lone run against him came in the sixth inning, when St. Louis pushed across its only tally on a groundout by Iván Herrera.

Matthew Liberatore took the loss for St. Louis, falling to 2-3 after working five-plus innings. He surrendered four runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out five.

Milwaukee seized control immediately in the bottom of the first. Jackson Chourio drew a leadoff walk, and after Brice Turang struck out, William Contreras singled to left to score Chourio for a 1-0 lead. Yelich then followed with his fourth home run of the season, a line drive to left-center, driving in Contreras and making it 3-0. Andrew Vaughn struck out and Luis Rengifo singled but was caught stealing to end the inning.

The Cardinals managed only one baserunner through the first five innings, with Misiorowski retiring 15 of the first 16 batters he faced. St. Louis’s first hit came in the sixth when Pedro Pagés singled leading off. Victor Scott II reached on a fielder’s choice, and JJ Wetherholt singled to put runners at first and third. Herrera then grounded to third baseman Rengifo, who threw to first for the out as Scott scored, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Alec Burleson grounded out to end the threat.

Milwaukee answered immediately in the bottom of the sixth. Andrew Vaughn singled to right, Rengifo walked, and after a flyout moved Vaughn to third, Garrett Mitchell singled to left to drive in Vaughn, making it 4-1. Joey Ortiz and Chourio struck out to end the inning.

The Brewers added another run in the seventh. Turang walked, and after Contreras flied out, Yelich singled to put runners at first and second. Vaughn then hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line to score Turang and push the lead to 5-1. The Cardinals challenged a tag play at the plate on the next batter, and the call was overturned as Rengifo lined into a double play, with right fielder Jordan Walker throwing home to nail Yelich trying to score.

Misiorowski struck out the side in the seventh, fanning Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn to finish his outing. Milwaukee’s bullpen retired the final six Cardinals batters in order, with relievers working a perfect eighth and ninth.

Andrew Vaughn led the Brewers with three hits, including two doubles and an RBI. Yelich finished with two hits, two RBIs and his home run. Mitchell had two hits and an RBI, and Rengifo added two hits. Contreras drove in a run with a single. For St. Louis, only Wetherholt and Pagés recorded hits, each going 1 for 4. Herrera drove in the lone run but struck out three times.

The Cardinals had won two of three at Cincinnati over the weekend, while the Brewers were coming off a home series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, taking one of three. Milwaukee had taken two of three from St. Louis earlier this month at Busch Stadium, winning 6-2 on May 6 after dropping the opener 6-3 on May 4.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee 6, St. Louis 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Milwaukee with a 63.20 percent probability to win. Milwaukee had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over-under line of 7.5.