MLB Playoffs 2011: St. Louis Cardinals' Luck Won't Carry over to Postseason

A month ago, the St. Louis Cardinals were down 10 games in the Wild Card race, but the luck they had that helped them win the wild card will not be around against the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Make no mistake about it, the Cardinals are a very good team, and they deserve a ton of credit for winning the wild card. However, they had a lot of help from the Atlanta Braves choking, and of course a ton of luck. 

St. Louis has the talent to go far, but every team needs a little luck on their side to reach the World Series. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they used up all of theirs just to make it in the playoffs. 

The first round of the postseason is a five game series. The Phillies are too good not to win the series over St. Louis, and they may even sweep them. 

Philadelphia's pitching staff is very strong, and built perfectly for the playoffs. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt are going to dominate this postseason, which is why the Cardinals won't be moving on. 

Sure, it would be a great story if the Cardinals were to shock everyone, beat the Phillies and then go on to the World Series, but the reality of that happening is very slim. 

The Phillies rotation will cruise past the Cardinals and they will be well rested for the NLCS. 

Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman are phenomenal players for the Cardinals, but they can't win this series alone. They'll need their pitchers to be on their A-game, but even then that still won't be enough. 

There's the possibility this goes to five games simply because both teams are very clutch, but I highly doubt it will. 

With Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Hunter Pence, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino, the Phillies are too good to go down in the first round. 

St. Louis had a great run, but the road ends in Philadelphia.