Phillies vs. Cardinals: Why Cardinals Will Beat Phillies' Vaunted Pitching

The St. Louis Cardinals will ride the momentum of their epic September comeback in which they barely made the 2011 MLB playoffs after catching the Atlanta Braves for the NL Wild Card, into their NLDS matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies starting pitch staff is among the best in recent memory, with four aces, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, all capable of dominating any team.

The Cardinals have to score runs against the Phillies to put pressure on their bullpen, and plant a seed of doubt in the Phillies' minds.

St. Louis is certainly capable of beating the Phillies starting pitching, and they will.

Led by first baseman Albert Pujols, the best player of the last 25 years, the Cardinals offense has tons of talent up and down the lineup.

Pujols had an amazing second half of the season after struggling in the first half, and recovered from a wrist injury in two weeks when he was supposed to need six weeks to heal.

Matt Holliday, who may miss Game 1 of the NLDS with an injury, had a good season when healthy. Yadier Molina had a career offensive season with a .305 avg., 14 HRs, and 65 RBIs. Molina of course, is the premier defensive catcher in baseball.

Giving Pujols protection in the lineup is Lance Berkman, who had a great year for St. Louis at the age of 35. Berkman revived his MLB career with an impressive 31 HRs and 94 RBIs.

In a late September four-game series against the Phillies, which was crucial to the Cardinals chances at making the playoffs, St. Louis took three of four games, including wins against Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels.

The Cardinals also outscored the Phillies in the series, 15-14. These three wins all came at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where the Cardinals will open the NLDS on Saturday.

St. Louis is a talented team with a good offense and pitching, but more importantly they are an experienced team, including both the players and the manager.

Tony La Russa is one of the best managers in baseball history, and knows how to win in the playoffs. He's won two World Series titles in his managerial career, in 1989 with the Oakland Athletics and 2006 with the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will carry their momentum from a magical late season surge into Game 1 of the NLDS, and can take comfort in the fact they've beaten the Phillies on the road three of the last four times, and are an experienced team with multiple World Series winners on the team.

In the Cardinals 2006 World Series run, they barely made the playoffs with an 83-78 record, but made an unexpected run to a championship.

After barely making October baseball again, the Cardinals are ready for another historic run.

Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for the latest sports news and updates. Follow @NicholasGoss35