It was an enjoyable, if disappointingly familiar home opener for the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday afternoon at Miller Park, as the tailgating fun and pregame festivities gave way to a game that ended all too predictably – some homer-powered offense, not much pitching and a loss to the rival St. Louis Cardinals.

The Brewers dropped their fourth home opener in as many years, 8-4, to the Cardinals, their first defeat of the season, souring slightly the excitement of the annual unofficial local holiday that is the return of baseball to Brew City.

The day featured the usual home-opener highlights – the grilling and beer-drinking outside, the optimism-filled press conferences of manager Craig Counsell and GM David Stearns, the color guard and ceremonial first pitch and the National Anthem performed by the sons of owner Mark Attanasio. There were loud cheers for veteran star Ryan Braun; Bernie Brewer riding down his slide after Milwaukee’s three home runs, which constituted all of the team’s run production; and an ineffective starting pitching performance that doomed the Brewers against their division nemesis, which is 87-54 at Miller Park.

"I’d like to win one of these opening-day games; we haven’t done that in a couple of years," Counsell said afterward. "But business goes on tomorrow."

Most of the sellout crowd of 45,393 had moved from the chilly parking lots into the closed-roof stadium in time to see catcher Manny Pina homer to right-center to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead in the second inning. But starter Zach Davies had a few difficult frames, including a four-run sixth, allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings – with six strikeouts – and digging the Brewers a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

A solo home run by new center fielder Lorenzo Cain in the third and a two-run homer by first baseman Eric Thames was as much scoring as Milwaukee could manage offensively the rest of the way. The Brewers had eight hits but left five runners on base and couldn’t dent St. Louis’ bullpen, which gave up just one hit with four strikeouts over the final 3 1/3 innings. Starting pitcher Miles Mikolas, who spent the last three years playing in Japan, picked up the win, allowing four runs over 5 2/3 innings and hitting a two-run homer, his first career hit.

The Cardinals quieted Miller Park, winning for the sixth time in the last 10 games in Milwaukee and sending Brewers fans to the exits in the eighth inning.

"We’re going to score by home runs," Counsell said when asked about an offense that, like last year, seems dependent on the long ball. "A big chunk of our runs will come by the home run."

Cain’s homer was the lone bright spot at the top of the Brewers’ order, as outfielders Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun both went 0 for 4. But the middle of the lineup – third baseman Travis Shaw, Thames and Pina – combined to go 6 for 12 with three RBI and three runs scored. Second baseman Jonathan Villar had a bunt single in the second inning, while shortstop Orlando Arcia made a couple of nice defensive plays in the field.

Out of the bullpen, Brandon Woodruff allowed one run on three hits with a couple of strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings, and Oliver Drake pitched two scoreless innings.

After an offseason in which Stearns added Cain and Yelich to a powerful lineup but didn’t do much to upgrade a thin pitching staff, there was plenty of confidence in what many hope will be a fun and dynamic offense, though reservations about the starting rotation. Those intuitive concerns were manifest in Monday’s loss to the Cardinals, though Counsell didn't sound worried.

"The rest of the season kind of starts for us tomorrow," Counsell said. "You point to those first four games, including the home opener, and then the rest of the season starts tomorrow."

The Brewers are now 25-25 in home openers, including 9-9 at Miller Park. Milwaukee hosts St. Louis in Game 2 of the series on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m.