St. Louis ? After getting past Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, the St. Louis Cardinals quickly finished off the defending World Series champions.

Miguel Cairo, starting in place of injured Scott Rolen, drove in two runs and scored twice as the Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 Saturday night to complete a three-game sweep in the NL division series.

“We really wanted to try to win it and get some rest before the next round,” leadoff hitter Fernando Vina said. “We didn’t want to face Randy and Curt, we wanted to get it over with.”

Playing an inspired postseason after the deaths of pitcher Darryl Kile and broadcaster Jack Buck, the Cardinals advanced to the NL championship series for the second time in three years. And they did it by beating the team that chased them in a tense, Game 5 of the opening round last season.

Minus injured star Luis Gonzalez, who separated his shoulder in the final week of the regular season at Busch Stadium, Arizona totaled a mere six runs and 18 hits in the series.

Counting the regular season, the Cardinals have beaten the Diamondbacks seven straight times, including a victory against Johnson in Game 1. Schilling started Game 2, and St. Louis won once he departed.

Cairo went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, including a run-scoring double in the eighth as the Cardinals scored twice off Byung-Hyun Kim. Pinch-hitter Kerry Robinson added a run-scoring single in the eighth.

St. Louis catcher Mike Matheny tagged out Arizona's Chris Donnels in front of umpire Angel Hernandez during Saturday's game in St. Louis. The Cardinals beat the Diamondbacks, 6-3.

Pitcher Andy Benes squeezed home the go-ahead run for St. Louis. Albert Pujols drove in a run and saved a run with his second outfield assist to highlight this victory.

During the regular season, Cairo ranked second in the NL with 19 pinch hits.

Vina added an RBI single in the fourth to chase Miguel Batista (0-1). He was 2-for-4 in the clincher and 9-for-15 in the series after a .270 average in the regular season.

“You always want to be confident,” Vina said. “As a leadoff hitter the weight is on your shoulders to try to get something going for the ballclub.”

Jeff Fassero (2-0) allowed two hits in 113 innings, benefiting from Pujols’ assist in the fifth, to win his second game of the series.