ST. LOUIS -- As much as manager Mike Shildt may insist that the Cardinals’ only true opponent is itself, the standings always tell a different story. And that story for the past two seasons has been that the Cards haven’t measured up to a pair of division opponents.

That may no longer be the case.

While the 2019 season may still be in its infancy, the Cardinals have already learned plenty about the Brewers. A quirk in the schedule meant that Wednesday’s meeting was the 10th between the two clubs. And the Cardinals punctuated it by closing out a series sweep with a 5-2 victory over the defending National League Central champs under rainy St. Louis skies.

Home runs by Marcell Ozuna and Yadier Molina during the fourth inning provided all the necessary offense for Adam Wainwright, who became the fifth pitcher in franchise history to win 150 games.

“This is the least amount of film work I had to do preparing for a start, maybe in my whole career, because I knew by heart what they had done the whole season because basically we’ve played them the whole season,” said Wainwright, who, oddly, hadn’t been on the mound in any of the previous nine meetings. “Besides looking at hit charts and tendencies on counts, I pretty much had a good plan going in.”

This high concentration of games against one opponent is as unusual as it seemed. Not since 1958, when the Cardinals faced the Cubs 11 times in their first 23 games, have they seen a team this often to open a season. Oddly, the Cards and Brewers now won’t meet again until August.

So how much did we learn from these early-season meetings between division rivals? At least a few things:

Christian Yelich remains a nuisance

For a while there, it seemed as if the Cardinals would never retire the reigning NL MVP Award winner. He homered in his first six games against the Cardinals, and, in one game alone, went deep three times and drove in seven runs. If there’s good news for the Cardinals, though, it was that they finally tamed Yelich this week. He finished 0-for-7 with two walks and four strikeouts in this series. Jordan Hicks closed out Wednesday’s win with a masterful sequence to strike out Yelich with the bases loaded.

Paul Goldschmidt continues to batter the Brewers

As much as the Cardinals loathed watching Yelich circle the bases over and over, the Brewers had to feel the same about Goldschmidt. He, too, blasted three home runs in one game, and he finished the 10-game stretch 17-for-39 with six homers and 13 RBIs. Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 11 games by reaching base twice on Wednesday, first with a fourth-inning single that sparked a four-run inning off Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin.

The power potential is real

The Cardinals and Brewers combined to hit 45 home runs, including three on Wednesday. The Brewers accounted for 25 of those blasts and went deep in all 10 games. The Cards had only one homerless game in the bunch, though their 20 homers against the Brewers represent a total higher than four other teams have on the season. Goldschmidt led the way with his six blasts, followed by Ozuna with four. Ozuna’s three-run homer on Wednesday erased Milwaukee’s early one-run lead, set with a solo shot by Eric Thames in the first.

The Cards have a more dynamic offense

It’s been largely home run or bust for the Brewers, who scored all nine of their 10 runs this series via the long ball. In fact, 78 percent of their runs against the Cardinals have come on home runs. The Cardinals haven’t been so feast-or-famine. They mustered 39 hits in this series and showcased an ability to manufacture runs with extended rallies and plus baserunning. The depth of their lineup was also showcased throughout the series.

“I like the ability to have all different options and all different ways to score because you never know what the day brings,” Shildt said. “You never know what a pitcher may or may not have. You never know what the weather can look like. You don’t know how the ballpark is going to play. But you do know you can take good at-bats. You do know you can run the bases well. You do know you can handle the bat.”

Home-field advantage means something

Before the Cardinals sealed their first sweep of the Brewers since 2016, Milwaukee had reeled off five wins in seven games at Miller Park. Widening that lens, the Cardinals have been outstanding at Busch Stadium against almost everybody to begin the year. Their 10-3 start at home is the team’s best since 2015, when it won 11 of its first 13. In addition to sweeping Milwaukee at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals have also completed a four-game sweep of the defending NL champion Dodgers.

“This is our home,” Molina said. “We have to defend our home, and right now we’re doing a pretty good job at it.”

These two clubs appear evenly matched

It seems fitting that at the end of this stretch, the Cardinals and Brewers each won five games. The two teams played three one-run games and had seven of their games determined by three or fewer runs. The edge in run differential went to the Cardinals, who outscored the Brewers, 58-50.