Cardinals vs. Phillies: Roy Halladay Will Dominate St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals have been on fire the past couple weeks as they stormed into the playoffs, but they are about to get destroyed by Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay.

Halladay opened the 2010 postseason by throwing the second playoff no-hitter in MLB history, and while I would be shocked if he threw another no-no, I'm expecting similar success from the two-time Cy Young winner.

Halladay as been his usual ridiculous self this season, finishing in the top 10 in wins (19), strikeouts (220), ERA (2.35) and WHIP (1.04).

Although two of his six losses came in the month of September, Halladay finished the regular season strong. He allowed just seven earned runs in 37 innings pitched during the season's final month.

He faces a potent St. Louis offense tonight, one that scored four runs on six hits against him just two weeks ago. However, that was after the Phillies had clinched the division and the Cardinals were fighting for a playoff spot.

Clearly circumstances played a role in that game and St. Louis veteran Lance Berkman acknowledged that their regular season success will have little impact tonight.

"It's not going to be the same. A lot is going to be made of the fact that we played pretty well against the Phillies this year, but with the playoffs all around it's a different story," Berkman said.

With something to actually play for, I'm expecting a motivated Halladay to dominate the Cardinals lineup. The velocity on his fastball has been excellent and his change-up is absolutely filthy.

Always durable and efficient, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Halladay register another complete game.

I'm expecting two earned runs from St. Louis, 7-to-9 strikeouts for Halladay, and a Game 1 win for Philadelphia.