MILWAUKEE — Hours before his club faced Milwaukee Brewers high-velocity phenom Jacob Misiorowski for a fourth time in his career, manager Oli Marmol referred to the matchup as “a really good test.”

“Really good” does not begin to describe Misiorowski on Monday.

The lanky right-hander from Missouri who grew up an Adam Wainwright fan buzz-sawed through the Cardinals to tie a career high with a dozen strikeouts. The Cardinals saw more than 50 pitches that left Misiorowski’s fingers at 100 mph or faster, and he flirted with a no-hitter until a bloop single in the sixth.

He was “really good” enough to make the Brewers’ three-run rally in the first inning all the scoring they’d need but the offense added later for a 5-1 victory on Memorial Day afternoon at American Family Field.

The Cardinals lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Milwaukee has muscled its way back into the National League Central lead with a sweep of the Cubs and an opening statement against the Cardinals in their first visit of the season to the screw-top ballpark in Milwaukee. Christian Yelich vaulted the Brewers to an early lead with a home run off Matthew Liberatore in the first inning, and they were never threatened. The question became how far could Misiorowski go with a no-hitter.

Pedro Pages dropped an opposite-field single in right to shatter Misiorowski’s bid as the sixth inning began. Three batters later the Cardinals would end his scoreless streak, too.

Ivan Herrera’s groundout for the second out brought home a run.

Misiorowski (5-2) had pitched 29 2/3 consecutive innings before that without allowing a run, and that included his recent scoreless start against the Cubs.

For the fifth time this season and seventh time in his career, he struck out at least 10 batters.

‘The Miz’ toys with history

Here is a glimpse at what the Cardinals faced from the beginning of Monday’s game.

The first six pitches a Cardinals saw all touched 103 mph.

The Cardinals did not see a pitch slower than 101 mph until Misiorowski delivered his 11th pitch of the start. And even then the Cardinals’ No. 3 hitter, Alec Burleson, fouled off a 98-mph slider.

Both of Misiorowski’s first-inning strikeouts ended with a 103-mph fastball.

In the third inning, Misiorowski finished a strikeout with a 102.3-mph fastball, froze a Cardinal with a 89.1-mph curveball, and then came back to strike out the side in order with a 101.9-mph fastball. JJ Wetherholt missed it after only seeing 103-mph fastballs in his first plate appearance.

Misiorowski had 57 pitches at 100 mph or faster.

To describe his outing as overpowering is to downplay it.

He dashed through the Cardinals’ lineup. After Wetherholt’s leadoff walk to start the game, Misiorowski retired 15 consecutive Cardinals. When Bryan Torres connected for a soft liner that seemed bound for left field and it was caught, something special seemed to be brewing for Milwaukee. A Brewer had never thrown a no-hitter in Milwaukee, and there had not been a single-pitcher no-hitter for a Brewer since they joined the National League.

Misiorowski seemed to have the stuff to do it.

One of the few batters to put the ball in play against him in the opening innings, Jordan Walker came back around for an at-bat in the fourth inning. Walker grounded out on a 91-mph curveball to end the first inning. To end the fourth, Misiorowski challenged him with a 101-mph fastball that Walker missed. He took a 101.7-mph fastball for a ball, fouled off a 94.6-mph slider, and then ignored a 102.2-mph fastball for a ball. Misiorowski kept accelerating. The next pitch Walker was a 103.1-mph fastball that he fouled off.

Misiorowski then hit the brakes with a curveball at 89 mph.

Walker swung over it for the ninth of Misiorowski’s strikeouts.

Liberatore finds groove, first 10K outing

After allowing three runs in the first inning and Yelich’s homer, Liberatore settled in and started the strikeouts.

For the second consecutive start, the Cardinals’ lefty set a new career high for strikeouts. He surpassed the nine he had last week with 10 against the Brewers. As dominant as Misiorowski was, when Liberatore left the game he actually had more swings and misses than the Brewers right-hander with 17.

Liberatore struck out the top of the Brewers’ lineup in order in the third. He was helped by several outs on the bases by the Brewers, but by middle of his start, Liberatore was spinning through batters and any traffic with a great and less predictable mix of pitches. In his fifth and final inning, Liberatore pitched around a single, a stolen base, and a walk to keep the Brewers stuck at three runs. It was his 10th strikeout that made it possible, and a challenge that overturned a ball call that caught Brice Turang looking at strike 3.

Liberatore allowed three runs and seven hits in his five innings and needed the career-best 10 strikeouts to sidestep nine baserunners.

Mautz makes MLB debut

The Cardinals’ interest in seeing lefty Brycen Mautz pitch at the major league level was stronger than keeping him on the roster for another day after his scheduled start was rained out.

It was enough that they used him a close game to keep it there.

Fresh from their first hit and first run of the game in the top of the sixth inning, the Cardinals turned to the rookie lefty to hold a two-run deficit. Mautz’s 82nd regular-season appearance in pro ball was both his first in the majors and his first as a reliever. He’d had outings in spring and fall ball as a reliever, but this was a new level and a new role — all with a 3-1 game and some momentum curling the Cardinals way.

The first two batters Mautz faced reached.

Andrew Vaughn greeted him with a single. Vaughn took second on a wild pitch. That freed up first for a walk that Mautz was about to issue. A deep fly ball was tracked down by Victor Scott II in center field to give Mautz some traction. He did allow a run on Garret Mitchell’s RBI single before striking out the final two batters.

Mautz pitched the final three innings for the Cardinals and allowed only those two runs on four hits. He struck out two.

Challenge spurs rally

The Cardinals had Brewers leadoff hitter Jackson Chourio caught between first and second early in the first inning, but everything that followed went against them.

The first of the Brewers’ several aggressive attempts on the bases, Chourio broke from first before Liberatore had committed to his delivery. The lefty starter had Chourio within reach of a pickoff. But Chourio never broke stride, and when Liberatore went to first that gave Chourio enough time to at least get near second. The throw from first went to Masyn Winn near the bag, and he raced to catch it and apply a tag.

Chourio was initially called out.

Almost as quickly as Milwaukee challenged, the call was overturned by replay.

That sparked a rally.

The next pitch Liberatore delivered was roped for a single by William Contreras for an RBI and the game’s first run. Six pitches later, the Brewers had a 3-0 lead. Former MVP Yelich saw four sliders from Liberatore in his first at-bat, and the fourth was a floater that veered over the top of the plate and to the heart of Yelich’s swing. He lifted it the other way for a two-run homer — his fourth homer of the season.

Liberatore got help from another steal attempt to escape the first inning. Pedro Pages threw out Luis Rengifo trying to take second for the third out of the inning. No replay needed.

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