MILWAUKEE — The team that has as much experience in close games as any other this season ran into the team with the most experience winning this season, period.

The St. Louis Cardinals continued their season-long knack for squeezing their way into one-run games against opponents of all standings, both contenders and not. They grabbed an early lead against their former teammate Dustin May only to have it reversed on them with a single swing in the middle of the game. A day after Milwaukee seized on the Cardinals’ errors in the eighth to break a tie game, the Brewers grabbed the lead early and then just held on.

Brice Turang’s two-run homer in the fifth inning proved the difference as Milwaukee won, 3-2, on Saturday night at American Family Field.

Milwaukee continued to raise its franchise record with its 102nd win.

The Cardinals played in their 89th one-run game of the season and slipped to a losing record in those nailbiters, too. They’re 44-45.

Their season ends Sunday afternoon in Wisconsin.

The Cardinals had the middle of their order up in the ninth inning to stage a comeback, if possible. Aaron Ashby retired the Cardinals in order on two ground balls and a game-ending strikeout for his fourth save of the season after two perfect innings of relief.

The game set up to be a tuneup for former Cardinals starter May as he pitched opposite the rookie who took over in the Cardinals’ rotation, lefty Quinn Mathews.

As he got ready for a postseason role, May pitched three innings.

The Cardinals tagged the right-hander for two runs on three hits.

Alec Burleson greeted his former teammate with a mammoth solo homer into the second deck over and beyond the Cardinals’ bullpen in right field. Burleson’s 26th homer of the season game him 116 RBIs as he neared the final day of the season still leading the majors. Burleson’s homer doubled the Cardinals scoring off of May. Jordan Walker’s leadoff single and stole base became a run in the second inning when he scored on Thomas Saggese’s broken-bat RBI single.

Acquired at the trade deadline to add depth and upside to the Brewers’ rotation, May left his final regular-season start with Milwaukee trailing 2-1.

By the time Mathews (2-4) was done, the Brewers had upended that lead.

Final start sets up spring beginning

Rookie Mathews’ finish to the season in the rotation is a springboard into competing for a spot in next year’s rotation. He’ll enter with a head start on other contenders because of the opportunity he had late in this season to take regular turns as a starter.

The Cardinals originally planned to have Mathews participate in the piggyback behind starter Kyle Leahy. Injuries opened up more opportunity, and the lefty did well with it.

In his ninth start, Mathews held the Brewers to three runs on five hits through five innings. Two of the runs came on a homer in his final inning that reversed the game. Mathews struck out seven batters, one shy of his season high in the majors and against a lineup bound for the postseason. Mathews struck out three of the first five batters, and he neutralized the Brewers in the third inning with back-to-back strikeouts to strand two runners.

He got a called strike three on a full-count pitch to William Contreras to end the end inning.

Mathews got 11 swings and misses in the game and 15 called strikes.

He finished off four of his seven strikeouts with the slider.

Romero spins through former teammates

May wasn’t the only pitcher to get in some reps against his former team in preparation for the playoffs. Lefty JoJo Romero was efficient and effective in his one inning against his former teammates that he came out of a second inning.

When last the Cardinals saw Romero on the mound, he was pitching for them just before the All-Star break. He had an emergency appendectomy while the team was in Arizona, and his absence from the bullpen was immediately felt in that series against the Diamondbacks, and his injury was one of the pivot points for the Cardinals’ season.

They had planned to trade Romero, and they were able to do so by linking him with May in a package to the Brewers that return two top outfield prospects.

Romero was on the injured list at the time of the trade.

But the Brewers saw in the lefty an October answer against some of the top left-handed batters in the National League.

On Saturday, he just had to face the top left-handed batter in the Cardinals’ lineup.

Romero entered the game for the top of the sixth to face Burleson.

Burleson’s solo homer earlier in the game increased his MLB-leading RBI total to 116. Romero kept him there by striking out his former teammate.

Romero then struck out right-handed batter Walker and switch-hitting rookie Leo Bernal to complete his first inning without allowing a Cardinal to leave the batter’s box. Romero retired both batters he faced in the seventh inning for 1 2/3 scoreless with the three strikeouts.

Relentless Brewers strike again

There were times in Friday’s game when it seemed like Milwaukee had twice as many players as the Cardinals with just wave after wave of opportunities for the Brewers to score. They peppered starter Michael McGreevy with nine hits, and when the Cardinals committed two errors in the bottom of the eighth, the Brewers pounced for four runs.

That 100-win persistence arrived again in the fifth inning Saturday.

The Cardinals held a slim 2-1 edge in Mathews final inning. The lefty began by striking out the two batters at the bottom of the Brewers’ lineup. The top of the lineup got a third look at Mathews and that was enough to flip the game.

They just needed a fortunate hop – or the lack of one.

Jackson Chourio reached on a meek grounder that he outran when it dribbled into a no man’s zone for Cardinals fielders. That was enough to set up the Brewers for the go-ahead swing when Turang followed with a two-run homer. Turang had three RBIs and the decisive two-run single in Friday’s win, and on Saturday he added a left-on-left homer that catapulted the Brewers to a 3-2 lead.

Turang’s 21st homer of the season was the third allowed to a left-handed batter by Mathews during his nine starts in the majors.

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