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Joel Pineiro, who went 15-12 in the regular season, gets the ball for St. Louis in Game 3.

By Steve Berthiaume, ESPN

A Cardinals team that started its NLDS against the Dodgers with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright -- rotation aces who very likely could fill the top two spots in the NL Cy Young voting -- now places the burden, one that suddenly has become the fate of its entire season, on the shoulders of Joel Pineiro, who starts Game 3 against the Dodgers' Vicente Padilla.

Yes, Pineiro was a 15-game winner in the regular-season and had a wonderful year, but he was supposed to be a complementary piece in this postseason; by no means a third wheel, but certainly not the linchpin he suddenly has become. We'll see whether he can somehow just bridge the gap and get the Cardinals to a Game 4, when Tony La Russa would have the option of giving Carpenter another shot in this series, albeit on three days' rest.

Pineiro's recent numbers suggest he won't be up to the task of saving the Cardinals' season. In his past five starts, Pineiro is just 1-3, and his pitches are finding a lot of bats. Opponents are hitting .288 against Pineiro in those five starts, with left-handed hitters torching him at a .306 clip in that span. Look for the Dodgers' big lefty bats of Andre Ethier and James Loney to cause problems.

Pineiro's stuff just hasn't been there, recently. Again, using his final five starts of the regular season as the most relevant sample size going into Saturday night's start in St. Louis, opponents are hitting .321 against Pineiro's fastball -- that's 36 points above the league average. The opposition has a .313 average against Piniero's slider, which is a startling 88 points above the norm.

Keep in mind also that the Cardinals didn't exactly go marching into this postseason at full speed. The Game 2 loss in Los Angeles, which almost certainly will go down in St. Louis history as " The Matt Holliday Game", was the Cardinals' 10th loss in 12 games. St. Louis has gone just 3-for-22 with runners in scoring position in this series so far. Yes, MVP-in-waiting Albert Pujols has been intentionally walked three times already, but the Dodgers have succeeded at preventing Pujols from beating them; he has been held to just one hit in six at-bats -- and that hit was a single.

A St. Louis baseball season that featured a pair of Cy Young favorites and a hands-down MVP winner is one loss from ending with a stunning three-game sweep, with the Cardinals' Cy Young contenders able only to sit back and watch.

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PLAYOFF WATCH: SATURDAY'S MATCHUPS

Phillies at Rockies, 9:37 p.m. ET

Pedro Martinez makes his postseason return. He hasn't pitched a playoff game since 2004. It will be a bit chilly when he takes the mound, with near-record lows -- we're talking low- to mid-20s -- expected at Coors Field. Oh yeah, maybe some snow, too. His opponent, Jason Hammel, beat the Phillies on Aug. 4, going 6 2/3 innings in his only start against Philadelphia in the regular season. (He did make one relief appearance).

For the rest of the playoff schedule, click here.