ST. LOUIS -- Bob Brenly came away impressed after watching the St. Louis Cardinals sweep his World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round of the playoffs.

"The Cardinals have a great chance regardless of who they play the rest of the season,'' Brenly said after St. Louis' clinching 6-3 victory Saturday night. "They have a group of disciplined, unselfish hitters, they get runners on base, they advance them, they strike out rarely and they take their walks.''

Oh yeah, Brenly also likes the way the Cardinals run the bases. Leadoff hitter Fernando Vina was 9-for-15 to spark St. Louis.

"Even though this is not a prototypical Whitey Herzog jackrabbit team, they've got great speed,'' Brenly said. "And that speed usually ends up showing up in close ballgames.''

The Cardinals got a day off Sunday after the clincher, and a workout is set for Monday. They will play the winner of the San Francisco-Atlanta series in the NLCS, beginning Monday.

They would open at home Wednesday if the Giants rallied from a 2-1 series deficit, but would open on the road if the Braves close out the series.

"It doesn't matter who we play,'' said closer Jason Isringhausen, who had two saves against the Diamondbacks. "We've just got to play our game.''

Manager Tony La Russa also spoke with confidence after the Cardinals knocked out Randy Johnson and outlasted Curt Schilling, Arizona's Cy Young favorites, then got another stingy day from a bullpen that allowed two hits in 4 1-3 innings in the finale.

"I feel like we're never at a disadvantage,'' La Russa said. "We just have a good team. We have a real good team.''

They finished off the Diamondbacks before Johnson and Schilling could pitch again despite the loss of third baseman Scott Rolen with a sprained left shoulder in Game 2. Rolen's availability for the second round is undetermined, although during the team's champagne celebration Saturday night he said he was improving.

"I'm doing OK,'' Rolen said. "I'm doing better now.''

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, quoting unidentified sources familiar with tests performed Friday, reported Sunday that Rolen sustained multiple sprains, which would probably keep him out of the NLCS.

La Russa sounded hopeful though that Rolen, injured in a collision with the Diamondbacks' Alex Cintron on the basepaths in Game 2, would be available.

"I think it's just a case of hanging with it and wait a few days to see how he feels,'' La Russa said Saturday. "There wasn't anything in the extensive tests that differed with the original diagnosis that there wasn't a serious injury there that would require surgery.''

Rolen would have had a tough time outperforming his stand-in in Game 3. Miguel Cairo was 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, including a run-scoring double in the eighth as the Cardinals put the game away with two runs against Arizona closer Byung-Hyun Kim.

Cairo was the NL's second-best pinch hitter during the regular season, but La Russa called on him so Albert Pujols could move to left field and concentrate more on his hitting. Cairo also had the game-winning hit in Game 2 and is 4-for-4 in the postseason.

"He's been doing that all year long,'' first baseman Tino Martinez said. "He's had a lot of key pinch hits, big game-winning hits, so whatever he does, it's not a surprise.''

Brenly said it's exactly the type of situation his team enjoyed last year.

"Really, the Cardinals have the same kind of depth off their bench and the same kind of versatility we had,'' Brenly said. "You're always going to miss a guy like Scott Rolen but the effect is lessened because he's got good players he's able to rotate around.''