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PHILADELPHIA -- There's no need for Cardinals manager Tony La Russa to think too deeply about where his team might be today had St. Louis not been a willing participant in a three-team, 11-player trade on July 27 that did more than just reshape its bullpen."We were not going to make it with the club we had," La Russa said Friday. "In fact, we probably would have finished under .500, quite possibl football results today y."Instead, the Cardinals are in the postseason as the National League Wild Card and will face the Phillies of Game 1 of the National League Division Series at 5:07 p.m. ET on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.Invigorated by the addition of relief pitchers Marc Rzepczynsk and Octavio Dotel, as well as starting pitcher Edwin Jackson, in that deal involving the Blue Jays and White Sox, the Cardinals fi football results today nished with a 23-9 kick that helped them pass the Braves on the final day of the regular season.What was once a question mark for the Cardinals has suddenly become a strength for a team that will match up with a Phillies bullpen that in 2011 had the best save percentage (85.5) among all Major League teams.Sure, the Phillies are armed with their quartet of talented starting pitchers -- Roy Halladay football results today , Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt get plenty attention -- but what about the pitchers charged with holding a lead, protecting those precious final outs of a game?Take what happened on a wild and woolly Wednesday, when the bullpens -- for better or worse -- decided who was heading to the postseason (Rays) and who wasn't (Red Sox)."I think if you were watching the games the other night, I thin football results today k you understand what the importance of an out can be," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "What about two strikes and nobody on, you end up giving up a couple doubles and a hit and you end up getting eliminated."I think that speaks volumes." The Phillies have certainly leaned heavily on relievers Ryan Madson (32 saves), Antonio Bastardo (2.64 ERA, 64 games) and Michael Stutes (3.63) -- Brad Li football results today dge was reinstated from the disabled list in July. The Cardinals have only two members from their Opening Day bullpen on their playoff roster (Jason Motte, Mitchell Boggs).On July 27, and as they trailed the eventual-division champion Brewers by a half-game, the Cardinals, in a much-criticized move, traded 24-year-old outfielder Colby Rasmus in a deal that got them Dotel, Rzepczynski and Jackson. football results today The team later signed veteran left-hander Arthur Rhodes to give it almost an entirely new bullpen."All of a sudden, everything changed again because Rzepczyski was really good. Then we added Dotel who has been really good for us. Arthur has been really good," La Russa said. "We just got so deep. It allowed us to make a run."From July 28 on, the Cardinals had the third-best bullpen ERA (2.86) in b football results today aseball.Rzepczynski, a left-hander, could play an important role in this series given that several of the Phillies' top hitters -- Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez -- are lefties.Motte (2.25 ERA) and Fernando Salas (24 saves, 2.28 ERA) flourished after the deal, and the Cardinals started to take flight. Sanchez could be added to the roster for the NLDS. The Cardinals have until 10 a.m. ET football results today on Saturday to finalize their roster."These guys have come in here and contributed and done a good job for us," Motte said. "Management and the front office did a great job of getting us those guys."The Phillies started the season with Madson tentatively holding down the closer spot, as he had saved 20 games over parts of his first eight seasons with the team. With Lidge on the disabled list to st football results today art the season, Madson seized the role with 10 saves in the month of May.Philadelphia's bullpen during this series will be aided by the additions of Joe Blanton and Vance Worley (11-3), who can pitch in long relief should Halladay, Lee or Hamels falter in the first three games of the series."I'm happy to see everybody [doing well], because it's not an easy thing to do," Madson said. "The guys I kn football results today ew in Spring Training, I knew that they were going to be good, just because of their attitudes and their approach."In 2008, when the Phillies won the World Series, their relievers had a 1.79 ERA. A year ago, they had a 1.89 ERA. But that ERA in 2009 was considerably higher (3.98) when they lost in the World Series to the Yankees, and a 6.98 ERA when they were swept by the Rockies in 2007. Clearly, football results today these innings in relief carry a lot of weight.Manuel's biggest conundrum this series? Trying to figure out who sets up Madson -- Bastardo, who struggled in September, or Lidge."I don't know, man. We'll figure it out when we get there," Manuel said. "A lot of things happen in a game." football results today
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