San Diego ? Chris Carpenter stood soaked with champagne in the St. Louis clubhouse as he reeled off everything the Cardinals are doing right this postseason.

They jumped to big leads in all three first-round games against San Diego. Carpenter and the other starters were superb and the bullpen sealed it each time. The defense turned enough double plays that the Padres never found any kind of offensive groove.

St. Louis quickly moved past overmatched San Diego, advancing to the NL championship series for the second straight season and fourth time in six years after finishing a division series sweep Saturday.

“We’ve got a great club,” Carpenter said during a brief break from dousings. “We’ve got to continue to play the way we’ve been playing in this series to continue to move on.”

This St. Louis team has long considered itself a World Series contender, especially hungry for another shot at winning it all after being swept by the Boston Red Sox for the championship last October.